Harry of the Byakugan
by Tylanoid
Summary: 9-Year-Old Harry Potter had no idea what would happen when he accepted the offer of a strange Phoenix. Fawkes had promised he would find a new family, a new beginning, and strength enough to change his destiny.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Fawkes was perched on the sign to Little Whinging, watching him through the window of the dreary looking house. He often sat there, just to make sure that the boy was alright. Despite his great respect for Albus Dumbledore, Fawkes disagreed with him. He knew Dumbledore had a plan for the boy, but keeping him in such an awful environment was going to be of benefit to no-one.

After watching him for so long, Fawkes knew exactly how every one of Harry Potters days was likely to go. Each was filled with the same tedious tasks. Cook breakfast for his aunt, uncle and cousin, followed by cleaning the kitchen and finally Dudley's bedroom and whatever other room needed doing. If any of them weren't completed to a high quality, or weren't finished before it was time to go to school, Harry was more than likely going to go without food for the day. In fact, the only time he was actually allowed to eat at all was at night where he was given whatever was left over from their nightly meal.

As if the chores weren't enough, Harry also had to put up with a constant barrage of abuse. He was known only as _the boy,_ but if that sometimes didn't seem to be sufficient to them he might be called freak or pathetic, or a plethora of further insults.

Occasionally though, the abuse ventured beyond verbal. His cousin, Dudley, rather enjoyed beating him at every opportunity, both at their school, where he was joined by his friends, and at home, where he was occasionally joined by his father, Vernon. It was true, Vernon only struck him when he felt as though Harry really deserved to be punished, but when he did hit him, he didn't pull his blows overmuch.

It was this combination of circumstances that had led Harry here, to another miserable morning of cooking for his family. Today was special though, even if Fawkes was the only one to remember why. Today was Harry's ninth birthday. He could tell that Harry was excited about it, even if the phoenix didn't understand why. If his past birthdays were anything to go by, it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps it was the fact that just last year his aunt Petunia had given him a present in the form of a sock. Just one sock, but it was the first gift he had ever gotten, and it was the first time anybody had ever remembered his birthday, at least so far as Fawkes knew. Maybe he thought he might be lucky enough for the family to remember a second time.

In Fawkes' eyes, that was the most incredible thing about Harry, always looking for the joy in life, instead of focusing on the negative. Despite his appalling circumstances, Harry always remained hopeful that his life would improve.

"Boy, stop daydreaming and finish cooking my breakfast already!" Vernon barked over his newspaper.

"Yes uncle Vernon" Harry responded obediently.

For what felt like the millionth time, Fawkes fought the urge to fly through the window and attack the huge beast of a man. But it would accomplish nothing other than to make himself feel better, so Fawkes restrained himself, as always.

Not for the first time, he found himself wondering why he let this go on. He could intervene and rescue Harry at any time. He even knew _where_ he would take him, to that place he could be accepted and find a real family.

' _If only it were that simple'_ Fawkes thought to himself. The prophecy still loomed over the poor boy, and if Fawkes was to take him where he wanted, there was no telling how it would play out. Sometimes he thought about disregarding Dumbledore's wishes and the prophecy both and simply taking him away anyway.

Fawkes was pulled from his silent contemplation when he heard Vernon roar out in pain. It took the great bird a moment to figure out what had happened. Harry had just begun to walk Vernon's coffee over to him when he had tripped, spilling the boiling liquid all over his uncle. Dudley was smirking behind Harry, who had gone paper white with fear and was holding his hands up in mixed innocence and apology. He had clearly been tripped by his bully of a cousin.

Fawkes' eyes widened when he saw Vernon's fat fist smack Harry across the face, knocking the small boy to the ground. Of all the times Vernon had struck Harry, it had never been like that, never enough to actually threaten his life.

Harry was only small, and a blow like that could easily have caused irreversible damage. Luckily, Harry seemed mostly unharmed, though terrified, and he rose from the ground and fled towards his cupboard.

"BOY!" Fawkes heard the man bellow as he rose threateningly from his chair, fists clenched at his side. The flame coloured bird barely even hesitated before he acted. It was time. For the moment, Dumbledore and the prophecy didn't mean a thing.

* * *

"BOY!" Harry heard his uncle shout angrily.

He quickly shut the door to his cupboard and shrank down behind his bed, curling his legs up in front of him and dropping his face into his knees.

Harry tenderly rubbed the side of his face where his uncle had struck him. Vernon had never hit him that hard before, not in his whole life had he ever been hit like _that_.

Harry closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears as Vernon bashed on the door. Curling into himself ever further, he waited for the inevitable beating he was sure to get once Vernon got the door open.

"Don't worry Harry, he can't get in"a voice said from the end of Harry's bed. His eyes darted open.

He lifted his head hesitantly, not even realising that the banging on the door to the cupboard had reduced to a dull thud, now almost entirely inaudible.

On the end of his bed, head lifted majestically and looking directly at Harry, perched a large bird. Its feathers were made up of various shades of red, orange and yellow, and Harry realised with wide eyes that the colours seemed to shift and change. If he didn't know better, he would have thought the bird was wreathed in flames.

Harry would never have thought that a bird could _smile_ , but this one seemed to be, the corners of its mouth upturned behind its sharp beak.

"Don't be alarmed. I'm not here to hurt you"the voice said again. It was deep and decidedly male, spoken with a soft kindness the likes of which Harry had never had directed at him.

"Are…" Harry hesitated before continuing. "Is that you talking to me?" he asked the bird uncertainly.

The bird nodded its head once.

Harry gave the bird a blank look.

"But… you're a bird" he said stupidly.

The bird chuckled lightly, Harry scowling in response.

"Well I hope those special eyes of yours can see more than just that fact" he commented. "My name is Fawkes, I'm a Phoenix" he added.

The only thing that Harry had understood from what he had said was that his name was Fawkes. He rubbed the back of his head with a grimace as he tried to process what the bird has said.

What had he meant by special eyes? In the past, Harry used to see them as a curse. Nobody had eyes like his, with the almost pure white irises. They had been a frequent point of bullying by Dudley and his friends for years, and so Harry had resented them for all that time. It wasn't until his Aunt Petunia had accidentally revealed that they were the same as his mother's that he had stopped hating them. It was the only detail besides their names that Harry had ever learned about either of his parents.

"What do you mean by special eyes?" Harry asked curiously.

"Ahh never mind young one, you will understand what I mean in time" Fawkes said cryptically.

"But-" Harry began, but was cut off as the beating on the door returned with vigour, Vernon shouting about how much trouble he was in.

Harry immediately paled and shrank back towards the corner.

"Persistent isn't he" Fawkes commented dryly. Harry's eyes widened as the great bird turned his gaze towards the door, and the sound again diminished to a soft thud.

"How-" Harry began again, only to be cut off a second time, this time by Fawkes.

"Listen to me Harry, I have a purpose in coming here and talking to you" Fawkes said.

Harry turned his head slightly to the side inquisitively.

"I've come here to offer you a way out" he continued, his tone grave.

Harry brows drew together as he looked at the bird. Harry had no idea what to think. He was starting to doubt his own sanity now.

"So" Harry started doubtfully, "you're saying that you've come to my cupboard to offer me a way out of my cupboard? No offence, but couldn't I just open the door?"

Fawkes stared blankly at him.

"No, I've come to offer you a way out of this life, out of the Dursley's lives" he answered simply.

Harry scoffed loudly, despite how much he wanted to believe Fawkes, the entire situation was ridiculous. He was talking to a bird for goodness sake; and worse, the bird was talking back! He'd really lost the plot now.

"And uh, where exactly would you be taking me?" he asked mockingly.

Fawkes sighed, and Harry heard him mutter something under his breath.

"To a place where you'd be given a second chance. Somewhere you could find a new family, somewhere you can belong" Fawkes said, staring resolutely into his white eyes.

"And why would you do this?" Harry asked sceptically with a small shake of his head.

In one swift movement, Fawkes flapped his wings and landed directly in front of him.

"You could ask me questions all night, and you would still believe my words as little as you do right now. All I will say is that you _deserve_ a better life than the one you've been dealt. I promise you that if you come with me…" he trailed off in order to stretch out a wing towards Harry.

"If you come with me" he continued where he left off, "you will become truly strong. Strong enough so that you will never have to be bullied by people like the Dursleys ever again."

Every logical thought in Harry's brain was telling him that this was a trick, that it wasn't real, but the thought of becoming strong enough to end the bullying… was all he had ever dreamed of.

Harry dropped his chin down to his chest, several tears spilling from his eyes onto his small bed. "This is crazy" he said with a cracked voice. "It's a dream, it must be."

"If it is, then when you touch my wing, you'd simply wake up" he fluttered the wing he had stretched out, the feathers shimmering, despite the lack of light. "But if I am telling the truth, it will take you away from here. Either way Harry, what do you have to lose?" Fawkes asked frankly.

Harry raised his eyes to meet the bird's golden gaze. For a bird, it had the most expressive eyes that he had ever seen, equal parts kind and wise. For a moment, Harry was reminded of the twinkling blue eyes he had seen in the face of a kindly old man from a dream he had once had. Harry remembered the dream so vividly, like it was memory instead of imagination, but more than anything, he remembered trusting the blue eyed man with all his soul. The same trust he felt now, looking into the golden eyes of Fawkes.

Slowly, tentatively, Harry reached out a hand towards the outstretched wing. As soon as he felt the soft feathers brush against his finger's the whole world began to spin around him. In his head Harry heard Fawkes voice speak once more.

"Good luck, Harry Hyuga" he said.

 ** _Notes_**

 _I hope you enjoyed the prologue!  
So after this prologue there will be a several year time skip to a point where Harry is just about to take the final exam at the Academy, where he is in Naruto's class. _

_What happened between this point and that point will be eventually explained, some or most of it in the next chapter._

 _If you've any questions or spot any errors or anything please let me know, since this fic is self-beta'd._


	2. Chapter 1 - The Demon Fox

**Review Responses**

 _Before I actually respond to any questions from the reviews (which I prefer to do when I update btw) I just want to thank everyone who has followed, favourite and especially those who took the time to review. Its such a massive ego boost when I get email notifications saying someone has followed or something. Every email I get is slowly making better the terrible self doubt I have in my writing ability haha. I was so excited to have over 100 follows in the first day of posting, you've no idea_ _  
Much love!_

 _ **NakedFury –**_ _If you read this chapter, you'll probably have your answer XD_

 _ **Jessicamathews65 –**_ _That will become clear in later chapters. I don't want to give too much away_

 _ **Otsutsuki no yami –**_ _Thanks for the suggestions, and Harry will be going back to the wizarding world. As for who he becomes friends with, Harry isn't the type of person to become friends with someone just because they can offer him a bit of power or a good standing in society, but I can see why you'd want that. Harry though definitely wont be weak and malleable. Naruto is his typical self, or at least as close as I can write him anyway._

 _ **ShiroHollow96 –**_ _I've actually yet to settle on a pairing. I've got the whole plot basically mapped out, except for the pairing. Whoever it is, the pairing will not be the main focus of the fic._

 _ **Flamelegendvargas –**_ _Since your review was so organised, Ill try to make my response just as organised.  
1) That was actually an error, it initially said something about his eyes darting around the room. Ill fix it as soon as I wake up haha. _

_2) Fair suggestion, I'll keep it in mind, thanks_

 _3) In the Harry Potter world, they definitely cant. In this fic however, I'm treating Pheonixes like any other summonable animal, complete with their own jutsu, just like any of Naruto's toads._

 _4) I can see why you're suggesting this, but I will be keeping Harry as Harry. I know it doesn't make a heap of sense, but this fic is loads easier to write if I just keep everything in English, including honorifics and jutsu names. I hope this doesn't disappoint too much._

 _5) The thing about Harry, as Fawkes noted, is that the world cannot destroy his hopeful nature. Despite the fact that he was abused, Harry remains a happy and generally trusting person. However, Harry is smart. If there is something off about a person, he will take note._

 _ **Light Lord Cybergate**_ _– If you read on, hopefully things will be more clear about the approach I'm taking in regards to the Hyuga clan._

 _ **Caphalor95 –**_ _Read on_

 **Chapter 1 – The Demon Fox**

"Happy Birthday!"

Harry stopped sharpening his kunai and looked up as Hiashi stepped into his bedroom, trailed by Hinata and Hanabi. He smiled gratefully at them. Despite this being the fourth birthday he had celebrated with his adoptive family, he still wasn't entirely used to people actually celebrating _with_ him.

"Happy birthday big brother!" Hanabi exclaimed, bounding around Hiashi and hugging him around his middle. Harry hugged her back just as tight. Out of all the things Harry loved about Konoha, being an older brother was probably what he most treasured.

"Happy birthday Harry" Hinata added in her quiet voice. Harry nodded his thanks with a smile.

Hiashi stepped closer and clapped him on the shoulder. "I can't believe you've been here four years now. Feels like only a few days ago I was being called to Lord Third's office to meet you" he said.

Hiashi wasn't alone there; Harry remembered it just as clearly.

 _Inoichi removed his hand from where it rested softly on Harry's forehead. He directed a sad smile at Harry before turning back to the old man. Hokage, Harry had heard him called._

 _He sat in a soft armchair on the far side of the office, watching intently as Inoichi and the old man began a hushed conversation_ _over a large wooden desk_ _. Neither of them looked towards Harry_ _during the conversation_ _, but he could only assume that they were talking about the Dursleys. Harry knew from the way Inoichi had looked at him after going through his memories that he had seen the_ _way they treated him._

 _The Hokage was stroking his short beard thoughtfully before two quick raps on the door forced him to look up. Two men entered the room._

" _Lord Hiashi here to see you Lord Hokage" the first man said._

 _The man that stepped through after the first had Harry breathless. His eyes were white, exactly the same eyes that he had._

" _Lord Hokage, you called for me?" the man asked._

" _Hiashi, yes, come on in"_ _t_ _he Hokage beckoned._

 _Hiashi_ _strode purposefully towards the old man's desk,_ _but partway there_ _his eyes were drawn to where Harry was staring_ _at him_ _with wide eyes._ _Clearly, he was just as surprised to see Harry as Harry was to see him,_ _h_ _is gaze darting between the Hokage and Harry several times before finally resting on the old man, an eyebrow raised in silent question._

 _The Hokage nodded and gestured for him to approach, and a second hushed conversation now with the three of them began._ _The conversation seemed to last forever, though in reality was probably only a few minutes, but after it was finished, Hiashi approached him._

" _So Harry is it? My name is Hiashi" he said with a kind smile._

 _The rest of the day had passed in a blur, but that same afternoon Harry was being adopted into the Hyuga clan. It wasn't until much later that he had understood just how blessed that made him. If he had been younger, he would have been placed in the branch family, and the curse mark applied to his forehead. As it was, Harry was apparently too old for the curse mark to work effectively, and so he had been made an adopted son of the main family._

"Did you hear what I said?" Hiashi asked sternly.

"Oh sorry, just daydreaming" Harry said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Hiashi nodded at him. "Nervous about the exam?" he asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. In truth he _was_ nervous, but he didn't want to voice it out loud. Harry was confident in his abilities, and had never really struggled to master any of the jutsu they had been taught, but it was the fear of the unknown that had him in its clutches. There was no telling what Iruka-sensei would ask of them during them the exam.

"Don't look so worried! You've had the top marks in every test. You'll do great" Hiashi promised.

Harry shot him a blank stare. "Not _the_ top marks" Harry reminded him.

Hiashi dismissed his statement with a wave of his hand. "Equal top marks then. Who knows, today's test might just give you a chance to finally one-up Sasuke Uchiha."

Harry doubted it, they had always been equal, right from the very first class. Not that he minded, though Sasuke most assuredly did. Harry had never been competitive at the academy, simply focusing on whatever they were trying to learn. He was more fixated on trying to sharpen his own skills than in comparing them to everyone else's.

Sasuke on the other hand had always seemed like he _needed_ to be the strongest. The fact that he had always had equal top marks with Harry had only strengthened his determination and effort, not to mention his hatefulness of Harry. Occasionally Harry had wanted to let him win, just so that Sasuke might stop hating his guts for a day or two, but it just wasn't in him. He might not be competitive, but Harry had never done anything other than perform at his optimum, always throwing himself fully into every challenge. Sasuke definitely would not appreciate being let win anyway, Harry knew that much about him at least.

"Maybe" Harry eventually countered. He turned to Hinata with a smile. "How about you Hinata. Nervous?"

"A… A bit" Hinata stuttered out.

Hiashi's demeanour switched almost instantly when Hinata answered. He became colder and more aloof whenever he was interacting with his eldest daughter. "I'm sure you'll do well too" he said, but the enthusiasm and promise had dropped from his voice.

Harry loved his father dearly, nobody had ever done so much for him as Hiashi, but his treatment of Hinata was a source of serious contention between the two of them. He had no doubt that his father loved Hinata, just as he loved Harry and Hanabi, but he pushed Hinata far too hard. The problem wasn't that he was trying to make Hinata stronger, but rather with the technique he would use trying to do it. Hinata was likely to respond far better to gentle encouragement than to Hiashi's firm approach.

Harry would never forget the day that Hinata had almost lost her position as heiress to the clan. Hiashi's father (an old man stuck in the past and in his outdated views of how the clan _should_ be ran, or at least, that was Harry's opinion on the old man) had convinced Hiashi that Hanabi was better suited, due to Hinata's gentle and shy nature. Thus he had organised a sparring match, with the winner to be granted the title of heir to the Hyuga clan. As an adopted son, Harry was ineligible for the position, not that he wanted it anyway.

There was no doubt that Hanabi was talented, especially given her age, but Hinata managed to gain the upper hand quite quickly. However, when she truly gained the advantage, an opening that would win her the fight, Hinata hesitated, not wanting to hurt her little sister. Hanabi was able to counter and win the fight as a result.

The Hyuga elder made a move then to name Hanabi as the heiress, but Harry couldn't just stand by. He couldn't remember ever being angrier than he was in that moment, not in his entire life.

" _Due to Hinata's weakness, Hanabi should be-" the old man started, but Harry cut him off._

" _Hinata's weakness? I don't know what fight you just watched but it wasn't that one" Harry said scornfully._

 _The Hyuga clan, most of which was in attendance, started whispering to one another. Harry was nervous suddenly, but not about to back down._

" _She lost the fight, boy, which means Hanabi should be the heiress" the elder answered disparagingly. "And how dare you speak back to me. This does not concern you. Might I remind you, you are an adopted son only. You have no right to interfere with clan matters."_

 _The man had no way of knowing, but calling Harry 'boy' was about the worst thing he could possibly have done. It only served to make him angrier._

" _Hanabi is talented for her age, no doubt, but Hinata should have been the victor. Everyone here saw the opening she had" Harry argued._

" _But she hesitated" the old man interjected angrily. "Her hesitation is her weakness. Hinata is too weak to lead the strongest clan in Konoha."_

 _Harry was really struggling to contain his anger after that comment. "Her hesitation is her strength! Hinata knew exactly what not striking Hanabi meant for her future, but she couldn't bear the thought of hurting her. That's bravery beyond what you can teach. If you can't see that then you're a fool!" Harry was getting louder and louder. By the end he was practically screaming at the man._

 _When he spoke those last words though, the courtyard went absolutely silent. Harry and the elder man stared intensely at each other, Harry's breathing heavy._

" _Harry" Hiashi said firmly, and loudly. Harry turned to see his father staring at him with a stern expression the man had never directed at him._

" _Take your sisters inside. We will speak of this later" he said._

Harry didn't know what happened after he took the unconscious Hinata and crying Hanabi back inside, but Hinata remained the heiress, and Hiashi never spoke of the incident again, despite his promise that they would.

"Harry!" Harry was broken from his reverie a second time as Hiashi called his name.

"You're really out of sorts today aren't you? It's a big day son, focus your mind" Hiashi said firmly.

Harry shook his head took a breath. "You're right, I just need to stay calm" Harry said.

"It's unusual to see you like this" Hiashi commented curiously.

He was right. Harry was always calm. Except for the incident with Hiashi's father, Harry had always been able to keep his cool, no matter the situation.

"Like you said, it's a big day" Harry answered. Graduating from the academy and becoming a genin _was_ a big deal.

Hiashi nodded. "Then perhaps it's best to just get right to it. I will see you this afternoon, we can celebrate your birthday and my son and daughter becoming genin."

Harry managed a grin at his father's belief in him and nodded.

* * *

"Did you see the Hokage faces?" Choji asked as they waited for Iruka-sensei to arrive.

"Yeah, it's probably why Iruka-sensei is so late. What a drag" Shikamaru answered, quite obviously bored.

Harry and Hinata had seen it too. The faces of the Hokage that overlooked the village had been covered in paint and graffiti. With his Byakugan, Harry had watched as Naruto continued to cover the sculpted faces with his artwork.

If it had been anyone but Naruto, Harry would have found it rude and disrespectful. But it _was_ Naruto, and so Harry simply found it amusing.

Harry had always admired Naruto. For some reason, the entire village seemed to ignore his very existence. Knowing at least a little how he felt, though Naruto's pain seemed infinitely worse than what he had with the Dursleys, Harry couldn't help but admire the fact that Naruto never let it get him down.

"Do you think Naruto will be in trouble?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Definitely" Harry stated. "But probably not too much" he added, seeing the worried look on his sister's face. He tried to hide a smile; Hinata had always harboured a huge crush on the blonde boy.

At that moment the classroom door burst open, Iruka dragging a disgruntled looking Naruto in behind him.

"Now just go and take your seat Naruto!" Iruka said firmly, clearly not in the mood for any backtalk.

"Yeah yeah I got it. Sheesh" Naruto said, walking up the aisle and taking the empty seat across from Harry.

Naruto put his hands on his desk and let his chin rest atop them, looking uninterested.

"I love what you did with the Hokage faces" Harry whispered, leaning over towards Naruto.

Naruto didn't lift his face off his hands, just turned his head slightly so he could see him.

"Ha Ha, very funny" Naruto answered dryly, returning his attention forward.

Harry sighed and leaned back into his seat. He just didn't understand. Naruto was clearly lonely, but every time Harry had ever tried to communicate with the other boy, he was rejected instantly. For some reason Naruto just didn't seem to like him.

"So who's ready for some graduation tests?" Iruka said, his bad mood all but vanished.

* * *

"Congratulations Harry, Hinata" Hiashi said just outside of the academy. He had arrived with the families of the other graduates to offer their congratulations.

"Thanks" Harry said sunnily.

"I said you'd be fine. Graduated with higher grades than even Neji" Hiashi commented.

Harry grimaced at the name of his cousin. Neji hated Harry enough without him hearing that Harry beat his academy graduating marks.

Harry caught Shikamaru on the arm as he went to move past Harry.

"Congratulations Shikamaru. So we all graduated then?" he asked.

Shikamaru shook his head slowly. "No, Naruto failed" he answered in his typically unconcerned tone.

Harry's good mood was immediately shot to pieces. "Any idea where he is?"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and kept moving.

Harry activated his Byakugan, thick veins bulging on his temples. The pupils of his eyes disappeared, filling with the same white of his irises.

It only took a few moments for Harry to locate him. Naruto was sitting on a swing at the back of the yard behind the academy, watching the graduates and their families, a gloomy expression on his face.

Harry didn't know if it was the best idea to approach Naruto, who had so desperately wanted to pass, but he couldn't help it, his legs were moving before he even realised.

"Naruto?" Harry asked softly as he approached.

Naruto lifted his head and wiped at his eyes, sniffing loudly.

"What? Come to gloat?" he asked angrily. "Well you can just go to hell."

Naruto stood from the swing and jumped onto the roof of the academy, leaping along the rooftops and off into the distance.

"No, Naruto wait!" Harry called out to him pleadingly, but Naruto kept moving.

* * *

"Harry" Hiashi sighed, exasperated, "we're meant to be celebrating."

Harry was just pushing the food around his plate.

"Sorry" he smiled slightly, though there was no joy in it.

"What happened? I thought you'd be thrilled to finally be a genin?" Hiashi asked.

Harry sighed and dropped his fork. "I am, it's just… Naruto failed. He never seems to catch a break. Can't you just tell me why everyone hates him so much?" Harry begged.

Hiashi remained tight lipped.

Harry sighed once more. "Fine, but I think it's unfair that he failed, I mean, have you seen the size of his chakra reserves?"

Harry himself had large chakra reserves, even amongst the Hyuga clan, but compared to Naruto, his were dwarfed.

"And they wanted him to perform a single perfect clone? With that much chakra, controlling it must be pretty difficult. It's not like he has the Byakugan to be able to see his flow either" Harry complained.

"Harry, if they failed Naruto, it's because they don't think he's ready yet. Being a shinobi can be a dangerous life, as well you know. Even Genin need to have the skills to face such a life" Hiashi said rationally.

Harry knew his father was right, but it still didn't seem quite fair to him.

Their conversation was cut short when the door slid open, a member of the branch family stepping inside.

"Apologies Lord Hiashi. Lord Hokage requests your assistance. Naruto Uzumaki has stolen the forbidden scroll. The third is calling all available shinobi to assist in the search for him. Your Byakugan would be invaluable" he said.

Harry quickly rose from his chair.

"I'm coming too" he said quickly.

"No Harry" his father ordered.

"Why not? The Hokage is calling for all available shinobi" Harry tapped his new hitai-ate on his forehead. "Well I'm a genin now."

Hiashi let out a breath. "Fine, but stay within the village, and if you find him, send for help" he ordered. "Hinata, Hanabi, stay here."

* * *

Harry leapt through the trees, Byakugan activated, looking for any sign of Naruto. So far he had yet to come across anything out of the ordinary.

Harry found it hard to believe that Naruto would steal something as important as the forbidden scroll, even in his grief about not becoming a genin. Naruto was definitely impulsive, but it seemed out of character for him to do anything like that.

Harry veered suddenly when he saw movement several hundred metres to his right side. It was at the edge of his byakugan's range, so he couldn't quite make out what it was.

As he got closer, he could just make out a figure on the ground, a fuma shuriken protruding from his back.

"Iruka-sensei!" Harry called out when he landed next to him.

"Harry" Iruka groaned. Harry looked at the wound with his Byakugan. Fortunately, the shuriken didn't seem to hit anything vital, and didn't go too deep. Harry slowly removed it.

"What happened?" he asked, helping Iruka steadily to his feet.

Iruka slowly regained his balance. "Mizuki tricked Naruto into stealing the scroll for him. He wants to use Naruto as a scapegoat while he escapes with the scroll for his own power" Iruka groaned. "They went that way" he pointed.

Harry focused as much chakra into his eyes as he could, trying to extend his vision's range. He was just able to make out Naruto jumping through the trees, Mizuki chasing behind, some several hundred metres behind.

"Can you move?" Harry asked.

Iruka nodded. "Yes, but I'll slow you down. Keep going, I'll catch up with you."

Harry didn't hesitate, jumping into the nearest tree and giving chase with as much speed as he could manage.

Thankfully, Naruto had stopped to hide, and Mizuki has lowered to the ground trying to search for him.

Harry dropped to the ground in a clearing across from Mizuki, who turned to look at him with surprise.

"Harry Hyuga" he said arrogantly. "I'd guess from the look on your face that you've been talking to Iruka."

Harry said nothing, just glared back at him. On his left side, Harry could see Naruto, hiding behind a nearby tree.

"And you were foolish enough to come alone? You could never hope to match me" he said.

Harry remained silent. He stretched out his arms, one in front aimed low, the other behind and poised upwards. He slowly stretched out his left leg, getting lower to the ground. It was the perfect stance for the gentle fist.

Mizuki's smile fell. "You don't even know who you are protecting. Would you still be so dedicated to helping your classmate if you knew he had the nine tailed fox inside him?"

Harry's eyes widened. Could it be true? It would explain why the village hates him so much.

"That's right. He's responsible for the deaths of countless shinobi when he attacked the village years ago. I can see the disgust of him forming in your eyes."

Harry took a deep breath. Naruto never could catch a break.

"You're wrong. The only disgust I feel is for you. You don't know the first thing about Naruto" Harry said firmly.

Mizuki took a step back and laughed. "You don't believe that he's the nine tailed fox? Every adult in the village knows about it."

Harry hesitated, speaking carefully. He didn't want to say anything that would upset Naruto even further, and Harry was sure he was listening in. "I believe that he has the nine tails inside him, but that doesn't make him the nine tailed fox" Harry argued. "He is Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha, and he is the strongest person I know."

"Well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the pathetic is defending the worthless" Mizuki said snidely. "Pathetic like you I mean; beaten by his aunt and uncle for years, and did nothing to stop it? You're not fit to be a shinobi" he started to whirl a fuma shuriken around his finger.

That had taken Harry off guard. How did Mizuki know about Vernon and Petunia? He took a deep breath and steadied himself, lowering to the ground even further. It didn't matter how he knew. All that mattered was protecting Naruto.

"You will never lay a hand on him" Harry promised.

With a laugh, Mizuki charged forwards, shuriken still spinning around his index finger. Harry prepared his chakra. He wasn't expecting Naruto to move from his position, but suddenly he was out in front and kicking the charging Mizuki across the face, his body flying helplessly through the air and rolling across the ground in a heap.

"If you _ever_ lay a hand on him. I'll kill you" Naruto swore, a ferocious look on his face.

"Naruto?" Harry asked quietly. He had never seen him look so angry, or so threatening. In their spars at the academy, Harry had always thoroughly defeated Naruto, but looking at him now, Harry wouldn't want to face him in battle.

"You think you can stop me? Ill destroy you in a single move!" Mizuki spat.

"Just try it. Ill return it a thousand fold!" Naruto yelled back.

Harry gasped when the clearing was quickly filled with clones. With his Byakugan, he could see that each of the clones had its own supply of chakra. They weren't regular clones, they were corporeal.

The Naruto army charged into Mizuki, beating him into the ground.

Harry saw Iruka land behind him, watching Naruto beat Mizuki ruthlessly.

"Are those shadow clones?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I… I think they are" Harry stuttered out.

The clones began to pop in clouds of smoke, until only the original was left standing over the now unconscious and badly beaten Mizuki.

"Naruto… how did you?" Iruka started to ask, but seemed unable to finish the question.

Naruto beamed widely. "I guess I managed to learn one jutsu from the scroll before you guys showed up" he laughed.

Iruka laughed as well, before groaning in pain and leaning back against the nearest tree.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed and leapt to his side.

"I'll be okay Naruto, don't worry about me" Iruka said. He reached into the pouch on his leg and held something out to Naruto. With his Byakugan now deactivated, Harry had to step to move to the side to see what it was.

In Iruka's hand was a leaf Hitai-ate, signifying that Naruto had made Genin rank.

"I don't…" Naruto said weakly.

Iruka smiled brightly. "You pass" he said.

Naruto leapt in and hugged the sensei tightly. A smile involuntarily made its way onto Harry's features.

"I'll go find a medi-nin" he said, just about to jump back up into the trees.

"Wait!" Naruto called out to him, and Harry turned back to face him.

Naruto wouldn't meet his gaze, shifting his feet awkwardly from side to side.

"What you said before… Was all that true?" Naruto asked quietly. "You know, about me not being the demon fox?"

Harry nodded. "Of course it was." It wasn't a lie, Harry didn't hold it against him at all.

"And… what he said about your aunt and uncle?" he asked.

Harry nodded once more, albeit a bit less enthusiastically.

"You were always so good at everything in class, I always just thought you'd think you were better than me like Sasuke does…" Naruto trailed off.

Harry smiled, but didn't answer. Instead he simply offered his hand out. "Friends?" he offered.

Naruto looked at him with a wide grin and took his hand.

 _ **Notes**_

 _So you might have noticed that I don't use the Japanese honorifics or for names of jutsu. In this fic you should just assume that literally everyone speaks English. It just makes it 1000 times easier to write._

 _Anyway I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. You might have noticed that Hiashi was a bit out of character, except perhaps for his dealings with Hinata. Hiashi is still going to be stern at times, but I wanted to write him as an actual father. If you couldn't tell, the real asshole in the Hyuga clan is going to be Hiashi's dad._

 _If you still have questions about what happened after Harry took Fawkes' offer and arrived in Konoha, aka how he ended up in the Hokage's office, don't worry. All will be made clear in time._

 _Im sure I had something else I wanted to write here, but I really cant remember what it is right now, since I really need some sleep._


	3. Chapter 2 - Team 7

**Review Responses**

 _A Massive thank-you again to everyone following and reviewing this fic, as well as just reading it in general. I'm really happy that so many seem to enjoy it XD_

 _ **Frankieu –**_ _This chapter will tell you exactly :)_

 _ **TorturedGuitar –**_ _I'm not gonna lie, your review made me especially happy. I always try to be at least a little original in my fics, even though basically everything with Harry Potter/Naruto seems to have been done in one way or another. Your offer is very, very much appreciated XD. But don't worry, I won't be discontinuing. Occasionally there might be a period where I don't post for a while, but being how excited I am about this fic right now, it seems unlikely._

 _ **Igasho –**_ _Actually, I want to get Harry started on his affinity fairly quickly. Watching Kakashi's various skills and even Sasuke already having a nature transformation will make Harry realise he wants to learn more than just the Hyuga style of fighting. As for Hogwarts, I just need to get to a certain point in the Naruto storyline before I introduce him to the wizarding world._

 _ **Light Lord Cybergate –**_ _You've inadvertently stumbled onto what I couldn't remember to write in the notes on the last chapter_ _. You're totally right, theres no mention of the seal not being able to be placed due to age. However I thought since the only person we've really seen the curse actually applied to was Neji (his father had it but we don't know when he got it) and Neji was so young, I thought I could twist the facts a bit._

 _As for the teams, I agree that Naruto with Sakura and Sasuke is overdone. However, a big part of the future plot of this novel absolutely relies on Team 7 having a bond just like they do in canon. Naruto's character will develop in much the same way that he does in canon actually._

 _ **MintMousse –**_ _I didn't really like taking away Harry's green eyes, but in this fic his eyes are just like the rest of the Hyuga clan. I figured the more important point about his eyes wasn't the fact that they were green, but that they were just like his mothers._

 _ **MythNephthys –**_ _So Im yet to settle on a pairing, so I really don't know whether it'll be het or slash. Being a gay male, I would prefer to write a slash fic, but only if it works within the context of the story. I also know that many people are uncomfortable reading slash fics, while nobody really complains about het. As it gets closer to a time where I would actually begin a relationship, I'll probably ask you guys for your opinions._

 _ **Jessicamathews65 –**_ _Naruto definitely realises, and feels guilty and stupid about it. But he's not the type at this point of his development to really talk about his shortcomings much. Hinata definitely won't be crushing on Harry though. They're really close, but just as siblings._

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Team 7**

"An odd number of graduates this year I see" Kakashi said, scanning the list of graduates that Iruka had prepared for them.

"Hmm, yes" Hiruzen said thoughtfully, smoking his pipe. "One of the squads will have to be four-man."

"A four person genin squad?" Kurenai questioned, stepping forward to read the list alongside Kakashi.

"It does happen every now and again under extenuating circumstances" Asuma supplied helpfully. "There was originally supposed to be only nine graduates this year, but after what happened with Mizuki and that Uzumaki kid the other night…" he trailed off.

"But doesn't that cause problems when it comes time for them to attempt the chunin exams? The exams are meant for three man teams only, right?" Kurenai asked curiously.

The third Hokage nodded slowly. "One of the four-man team will either have to temporarily join any two man teams that are available, say if someone is injured. If none is available, they will have to wait until the next set of exams."

Kakashi was still carefully examining the names on the list. Did any of these names have the potential to pass his test? He had never passed anyone before, and he was not going to start practicing leniency now, not even for the nine-tails jinchuriki or the last remaining Uchiha.

"So have you decided on the squads Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked, his one visible eye on the old man.

Another puff of smoke rose from Hiruzen's pipe. "I believe so." Hiruzen reached for the scroll with the list of graduates. Kakashi handed it over.

"Kurenai" he said carefully. "The team I have picked out for you would be best suited for tracking and search missions, and in combat I think they would complement each other quite well. Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga."

' _A good tracking team indeed'_ Kakashi thought. _'Though I wonder why he chose Hinata over the other Hyuga graduate.'_

"Hinata Hyuga? She's the heiress to the clan isn't she?" Kurenai asked, receiving a nod in response from the Hokage.

It was clear why she wanted to know. The care of the future of the Hyuga clan was now under her responsibility. It was a lot of pressure, especially considering how significant the Hyuga clan was to the Leaf village.

"Asuma. Your team will be made up of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akamichi" Hiruzen continued, turning to his son. "The Ino-Shika-Cho formation was very effective for their fathers" he added.

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "That lazy Nara kid managed to graduate? Wonders never cease" he joked.

"Then that leaves me with the four-man squad" Kakashi said.

The Hokage nodded once more. "Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Harry Hyuga."

Kakashi frowned slightly when he thought about who these genin actually were. It seemed an odd choice to put both Harry Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha on the same squad. Normally the highest graded graduate would be placed with the lowest, hence Naruto's placement with one of them. But to put both highest marks together?

The Hokage must have guessed what he was thinking. "Initially, I had thought Harry might be better placed on one of the other two teams, perhaps even with his sister's squad. However, the team then would have been made up of just Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura. In theory, they would have made a well-balanced team on their own. In practice however, I think their personalities remind me too much of the genin team I once commanded."

Kakashi didn't know much about the three of them, but according to the report that Iruka had sent along with the list of graduates, there definitely seemed to be a certain similarity between them and the Legendary Sannin. Naruto the prankster, Sasuke the power obsessive and Sakura the hothead.

"We all know how that team ended up" Hiruzen looked sad for a moment before continuing. "So I thought about what I could do to prevent history from repeating itself. Harry Hyuga might just be the key. From what Iruka has told me, Harry is not overly competitive or hot-headed, and he tries to cooperate with everyone. He might just be the key to making them a _team_ rather than a group of individuals."

Kakashi looked at the Hokage with a raised eyebrow. The old man clearly wanted the team to succeed. He supposed the old man wanted to make up for the mistakes of the past.

The Hokage's logic couldn't be faulted. A boy like Harry sounded to be would almost certainly act as a peacekeeper for them. In fact, the more he thought about it, Harry as the fourth member of the squad could not have been more perfect. Sasuke had a problem with thinking he is superior to everyone around him; with Harry, who had equalled all of his grades in the academy, that shouldn't be an issue. Sakura was apparently only interested in Sasuke, and found Naruto to be annoying, but respected and got on well with Harry. Neither Sasuke or Sakura respected Naruto as a shinobi or a person, but Harry admired and had befriended him only days ago.

Provided they were able to pass the bell test, Kakashi was sure he could mould them into a cohesive unit.

"So when do we meet them?" Kakashi asked.

* * *

"Where is he!" Naruto shouted impatiently. "All the other teams have already met their sensei and left!" he stuck his head out into the corridor for what Harry thought must have been the millionth time.

"Narutooo" Sakura whined. "Can you just stop complaining and wait? You're so annoying" she said, tapping her foot impatiently.

Like always, Sasuke remained quiet. He simply sat hunched over his desk, chin resting over his interlocked hands.

Harry was sitting too, head leaning back over his chair. He wasn't an impatient person, but three hours was starting to push it.

He lifted his head when he heard Naruto laugh mischievously. "What are you doing?" he asked his new friend.

Naruto was standing on a chair, trying to jam the blackboard eraser between the door frame and the sliding door.

"This is what he gets for being so late!" Naruto said impertinently.

Harry sighed, about to tell Naruto that it was a bad idea. Surprisingly, Sasuke spoke up instead.

"Our sensei is a jonin. He's not going to fall for something so stupid" he said.

"We we'll just see about that won't we" Naruto argued.

They all turned to face the door as they finally heard someone walking up the hallway. Slowly the door slid open and a man with silver hair and face mask poked his head in, the eraser plopping onto the top of his head.

"Haha he totally fell for it!" Naruto laughed, clutching his stomach.

"I'm so sorry sensei!" Sakura cried. "Sasuke told him not to do it! We would never do anything like that, would we Sasuke?" she looked at the black haired boy with bright eyes. Sasuke, predictably, stayed silent.

Harry rolled his eyes. He liked Sakura, but sometimes she was a little too intense with her crush on the black haired boy.

"Well" the man said, speaking behind his mask. "My first impression of you is… you're a bunch of morons" he said casually.

Harry tried not to laugh. He had no idea if the man was joking or not, but that was the last thing Harry had expected him to say. He found it quite funny.

"Well then, let's get to know each other then. Why don't you guys tell me a bit about yourselves?" he said.

"Well what do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"Oh I don't know. Likes and dislikes, future dreams, hobbies… You know, things like that. Why don't I go first?" he suggested obligingly. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and don't like?" he hesitated and tapped his chin, like he was trying to think of an answer.

"I don't feel like telling you that" he decided.

Harry had to fight the urge to laugh once again. Was he serious?

"Future dreams? Never really thought about it" he announced after another moment's hesitation. "Hobbies? Well I have lots of hobbies" he told them cheerfully.

Harry did laugh then, though he was the only one. His teammates just looked frustrated.

"All you told us was your name" Sakura criticized.

"Your turn" Kakashi smiled, ignoring her. Actually, Harry didn't know how he knew that Kakashi even _was_ smiling. It was odd, the only part of his face that was visible was his right eye, but that one body part managed to convey all of his emotions perfectly. It was remarkably expressive, Harry thought.

Kakashi pointed to Naruto and gestured for him to speak.

"Well I guess… I like Ramen?" Naruto said uncertainly. "Yeah I like Ramen" he said more assuredly, when Kakashi didn't question him. "I dislike the three minutes you have to wait after putting the ramen noodles in the cup" he continued, "and my dream is to become the greatest Hokage!" he exclaimed the last part loudly.

Harry had heard him state his wish to become Hokage countless times before. It had shocked Harry at first, that he would want to lead the village who ostracised him, but that was just who Naruto was. No matter how badly he was treated, Naruto didn't seem to hate them for it. All he wanted was to be acknowledged by them.

"I'm Sakura Harano" Sakura said after Kakashi nodded in her direction. "The thing I like is…" she looked at Sasuke and blushed.

' _No surprises there'_ Harry thought.

"My hobbies are…" she blushed even deeper. "And my future dream is…" she giggled as she looked at Sasuke one more time.

Sasuke didn't even look up at her, just stared blankly ahead, as though Sakura wasn't speaking at all.

"Harry Hyuga" Harry said next. "I spend most of my time training, and I enjoy sparring with my father, or basically anyone that's around." He tapped his fingers on the inside of his crossed legs as he thought of what to say next. "If I had to say something I don't like… it would probably be bullies" Harry said, thinking of Hiashi's father with a scowl. "And my future dreams…" Harry trailed off. He'd never really thought about it. All he wanted was to become stronger, like Fawkes had promised he would. "I guess it's to become as strong as I can possibly be, and to protect those precious to me" he finished.

"Sasuke Uchiha" Sasuke began in a dark tone. "I don't particularly like anything, and I hate a lot of things" he said coldly. Sakura dropped her head in disappointment. "My future is not a dream, because I will make it reality. I will restore my clan and destroy… a certain someone."

Harry definitely wasn't surprised to hear Sasuke's response either. Harry had once asked Hiashi why Sasuke would hate that Harry was his equal in classes. He'd been told how Sasuke's older brother Itachi had slaughtered their entire clan, leaving Sasuke as the only survivor. Ever since, Sasuke had dedicated himself to become as strong as Itachi, so that he could avenge his family.

"Alright then" Kakashi said casually, as if what Sasuke had just announced was the most ordinary declaration in the world.

"Tomorrow we'll have our first mission" he said. That had all of their attention.

"What will we be doing?" Sakura asked excitedly. Since their first day in the academy, all of the students longed for the day they would be able to go on a real mission.

"It'll be a survival exercise" Kakashi said simply.

Sakura frowned, along with Naruto. Harry and Sasuke however, remained impassive, listening intently.

"But I thought we were done with all the exercises. We're genin now, shouldn't we be going on real missions?" Sakura asked, Naruto nodding along enthusiastically.

"Yeah that's right!" Naruto agreed.

Kakashi pondered this for a moment.

"No, this exercise is set by me. You might have passed the academy's exam… but you haven't passed mine" Kakashi said, looking at them with a serious look in his eye.

"But then… you mean we have to pass _your_ test before we're actually genin?" Naruto asked with dread.

"You got it" Kakashi answered happily, his strange one eyed smile back in place.

"But what if we fail?" Naruto asked, panic creeping into his voice.

"If you fail" Kakashi began. "You'll be sent back to the academy."

Harry flinched back in shock. Could that happen? Iruka had never mentioned they would have to complete a second test for their jonin sensei before they were actually genin.

"Right then. I'll see you at five a.m. tomorrow at the third training ground. Don't be late" Kakashi said, quickly forming a hand sign and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"But _you_ were totally late today!" Naruto shouted after him.

* * *

It was about eleven a.m. before Kakashi actually showed up at the training ground.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto accused him at the same time, pointing their fingers.

He waved a hand in mock apology. "Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way" he explained.

Harry shook his head with an amused smile. Seemed like this was going to be a common occurrence.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well then, let's get started, he said, walking straight past the fuming Naruto and Sakura without a look.

"I'm going to give you one hour" Kakashi said, reaching into his leg pouch.

"What's the task?" Harry asked, watching Kakashi carefully.

"It's quite simple really" Kakashi answered. "You just need to get these bells from me." In his hand were three small bells hanging from a red string. He attached them to his belt.

"Theres only three" Harry observed. Something seemed strange about this exam, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"That's right. Only three of you can pass the exam and become my genin students. The other is going back to the academy" he said simply.

Harry couldn't believe it. It was bad enough that they weren't genin until they passed Kakashi's test, but now one of them was _guaranteed_ to fail? Harry didn't want any of them to fail. They had all worked so hard to graduate from the academy, it seemed unfair that they might have to return so quickly.

"You can come at me with any weapon you like. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you have no chance" he advised.

"This'll be a piece of cake!" Naruto exclaimed. "Those bells are mine!"

Kakashi gave him a blank stare. Instead of a smile this time, his one expressive eye seemed to sneer.

"I hear you had the lowest mark in the academy. Frankly I'm not sure why they passed you at all. I guess it's true what they say… the smallest dog barks the loudest" Kakashi said.

Naruto's face grew red as he reached for the kunai in his pouch. "I'll make you eat those words!" he promised angrily, spinning the kunai on a finger and charging at the jonin.

In the blink of an eye. Kakashi was somehow behind Naruto, one hand gripping the top of his blonde's head, the other holding Naruto's own hand, kunai still wielded, at the back of his neck. It hadn't passed any of their attention that if he had wanted to kill Naruto, he could've done so without any of them even having a chance to stop him. This was going to be even more difficult than Harry had anticipated.

"I didn't say start yet. Don't be so hasty" Kakashi said quietly. He let Naruto go with a small push forward, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Ready?" he asked them slowly. Harry leant low to the ground, preparing to jump straight into the nearby trees.

"Begin!"

Harry headed straight for the brush. Against a jonin as fast as Kakashi clearly was, a frontal attack would never work, even with his talent at taijutsu with the gentle fist. He quickly found a good branch surrounded by thick scrub. Activating his Byakugan, he searched the area.

' _Theres Sasuke; and Sakura'_ he thought. Both had the same idea as him, hiding until they could find a good opening. When he found Naruto, he resisted the urge to rub a hand down his face in frustration. Of course Naruto was attempting a frontal attack, the fool. And of course he was losing… badly.

Harry paled, sympathising with the blonde who had just been sent flying with two fingers into his backside. Naruto wasn't finished yet though, jumping out of the water with a number of shadow clones to back him up.

' _Could this actually work'_ Harry wondered, watching in bewilderment as one of his friend's clones managed to sneak up behind the jonin, holding him in place.

' _No'_ he quickly realised, Kakashi had performed a substitution, and Naruto was unexpectedly punching his clone instead of the jonin sensei.

After a brief fight with his own shadow clones, Harry watched as Naruto went to grab something underneath the tree that Kakashi was hiding in. One of the bells, Harry realised.

' _Don't do it Naruto'_ Harry hoped. But in typical Naruto fashion, he couldn't help himself. He was hoisted into the air by the rope trap that Kakashi had prepared.

Kakashi dropped down from the tree and began talking to Naruto, most likely lecturing him for falling for such obvious bait.

For a moment Harry thought it was the perfect time to attack. Kakashi's stance was more open, more relaxed. Thanks to his Byakugan though, he saw that this too was a substitution, the real Kakashi still in the tree. Not for the first time in his life, he thanked whatever gods there were that he was born with those eyes. Without them, he would definitely have fallen for Kakashi's ruse.

Sasuke though didn't have the Byakugan, and chose that exact moment to strike. The substitution Kakashi was littered on all sides with shuriken, perfectly aimed by the Uchiha.

Harry watched as Sasuke realised his mistake and started leaping in the other direction through the trees. Harry's eyebrows drew together as Sakura started moving towards Sasuke's position. Why would she make such a stupid move? Kakashi would surely be headed in the same direction. Could she just not help herself when it came to Sasuke?

Harry observed from a distance as Kakashi approached Sakura from behind. _'So he knows Genjutsu too'_ Harry realised, seeing Sakura's chakra flow disrupted with his Byakugan. Sakura fell to the ground unconscious.

Harry leapt through the trees chasing after Kakashi, who must have been following Sasuke's trail. He stopped again though when Kakashi caught up to his teammate, and the two began to fight after a few brief words.

Having been at the receiving end of Sasuke's attacks, he knew that the other boy was fighting as fiercely as he could, even managing to get a finger to one of the bells before Kakashi jumped away. Harry's eyes widened when Sasuke managed to perform a fire style jutsu. Nature transformations were notoriously difficult. To achieve one at only newly minted genin level was quite an accomplishment. Despite their equal academy grades, it was clear that Sasuke was above Harry in terms of ninjutsu.

But still Kakashi proved the more skilful, performing an earth style jutsu and heading underground. It was blurred and distorted, but Harry could just make out Kakashi's chakra underneath the ground. It was good to know that the Byakugan could penetrate even that jutsu.

Sasuke was caught off guard when he was grabbed by the ankle and pulled down, leaving only his head above the dirt.

Kakashi stood in front of him, but that meant that his back was to Harry.

' _Now!'_ Harry thought, jumping high into the air and towards the two of them. He held his hand flat and horizontal, poised for a strike into Kakashi's main chakra source in his stomach. If Sasuke was more skilled in ninjutsu, then Harry's specialty, like all the Hyuga, was taijutsu.

Just before the strike hit, Kakashi moved to the side, Harry's hand only just missing him. He didn't stop there though, landing on his hand and spinning with a leg out, trying to knock the jonin off his feet. Kakashi jumped over it harmlessly.

As fast as he could move Harry launched into a series of finger strikes and kicks, trying to shut down the man's chakra network. Despite how fast and proficient Harry was at the gentle fist taijutsu, Kakashi managed to evade every one of his blows. He even knew how to block Harry correctly so that he didn't have a chance to inject some of his chakra.

"Very fast moves. And almost perfectly executed too" Kakashi remarked. "I'm impressed. I can see why the two of you were held in such high regard in the academy." To his left, Harry could see Sasuke glaring at the silver haired jonin.

"But you still have a ways to go yet" Kakashi said, jumping back and out of Harry's reach. Faster than Harry would have thought possible, Kakashi performed several hand signs and held them in front of his mouth.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he said. Fire came streaming out of Kakashi's mouth, forming a massive ball of fire. Bigger than Sasuke's had been.

"Rotation!" Harry called out. He released chakra from all the tenketsu in his body and begun to spin. The familiar chakra dome spun around him, the fire gliding helplessly by the shield. While he was spinning, Harry managed to grab a smoke bomb from his pouch and throw it into the ground. When the fire had all disappeared, he soared back into the trees, using the smoke to cover his escape.

* * *

' _We've only got about 15 more minutes'_ Harry realised as he jumped to the ground, landing softly next to Sasuke's head.

After Harry had hidden back into the trees, he waited a few minutes while Kakashi hung around, most likely waiting to see if Harry would return to try again. After a while though he jumped away, most likely to check on Naruto.

"He's strong" Sasuke commented as Harry helped him out of the ground.

"Too strong" Harry agreed. "Which is why I don't think that defeating him is the real test."

When he was waiting for Kakashi to leave Sasuke, Harry had come to understand something about the task. Kakashi was clearly too strong for them, not one of them could hope to match him, and both he and Sasuke were the best of the new graduates. That was when it had hit him. If not one of them could defeat him, maybe they _all_ could.

There were only three bells and four of them, but that was the point, Harry realised. At first he thought there were only three bells because they were the only genin squad to have four members instead of three, but now he was starting to realise there were only three so they would be discouraged to work together and discover the true purpose of the test. The true test was to see how well they could cooperate as a team, even when the odds had been stacked against them.

He explained his logic to Sasuke.

"It makes sense" Sasuke admitted. "So we should fight him together" Sasuke admitted, though he hardly seemed happy about it.

"With Sakura and Naruto as well" Harry said. "Sakura is closer, so we'll get her on side first. Naruto is with Kakashi, tied to one of those posts back at the training ground" Harry illuminated.

"How do you-" Sasuke began, stopping when he noticed Harry's activated Byakugan.

It only took them a minute or two to reach Sakura, who was still lying on the ground unconscious.

Harry knelt down next to her. "Genjutsu" he explained to Sasuke.

"Release" Harry said holding one hand on Sakura's shoulder, his other in a chakra focusing sign.

Sakura awoke with a loud gasp. She looked rapidly between Sasuke and Harry.

"Sasuke… You're alive, I'm so glad" she gushed.

"Listen Sakura, we've only got about ten minutes left" Sasuke began. He quickly explained their plan.

Sakura nodded her agreement. "Let's go" Harry said, jumping into the trees and heading back to the training ground. When they were close, he stopped again.

"Sakura" he began. "Sasuke and I will keep Kakashi occupied, while we're fighting you go and free Naruto."

"Are you sure we even need Naruto? Why don't the three of us attack him together and get the bells?"

Harry turned an offended gaze at her. "Because Naruto was chosen as our teammate. Either we are in this all together or not at all" he argued.

"But Harry" Sakura said gently. "You might be wrong. Attacking together is a good idea, but there are still only three bells. Kakashi might only be allowed to take a three-person team like the other teams had."

Harry supposed she was right. Harry could absolutely be wrong. It didn't matter either way though, Harry would never betray Naruto like that.

"If I'm wrong, I'll take the fall and go back to the academy. I'm not going to abandon a comrade" Harry said defiantly.

Sakura nodded sheepishly. Sasuke looked at Harry with a strange expression.

"Ready?" Harry asked Sasuke.

"Ready" he said, his indifferent expression reappearing.

With lightning speed, they both launched themselves at Kakashi, who quickly began to evade their attacks, dropping the book he was reading. Sakura cut Naruto free from the post. He fell to the ground and looked up at them in confusion.

"Naruto, together!" Harry yelled out, leaning back to avoid a high kick from Kakashi.

Naruto must have got the message, because he and Sakura both leapt over to them, ready to join in the fight.

Kakashi jumped backwards and out of their reach. Before they could continue their assault, Kakashi held up a hand to stop them.

"Time's up I'm afraid" Kakashi said.

Harry's heart almost stopped. After all that effort, none of them were going to pass.

"Then you mean we've…" Sakura began on the verge of tears.

"You pass" Kakashi said happily.

Harry let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. He must have been right.

"What?" Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi like he was crazy.

"You. Pass" Kakashi repeated.

"But we never got the bells" Naruto said quizzically.

Kakashi smiled that strange one eyed smile again.

"The bells were never the point. The real test was to see if you guys would be able to work together. I only had three bells to see if you would still team up despite one of you not being able to pass" he pointed to the three bells. "Whose idea was it to work together?" he asked curiously.

Harry was about to say it was all of theirs, but Sasuke beat him to it.

"It was Harry's" he said.

Harry couldn't help but notice a strange knowing twinkle had appeared in Kakashi's visible eye. It really puzzled Harry as to how he could pull off so many facial expressions with just one eye.

"So we all pass?" Naruto asked, getting more excited by the second.

"You're all now officially my students" Kakashi answered. "Congratulations."

 _ **Notes**_

 _Hope you all enjoyed once again. If you're worried that the whole fic is just going to follow the entire canon plot of Naruto, just with Harry, I promise it wont. I have big plans for this fic, it just has to get to a point where I can divert their paths a bit. I'm going to shake Naruto storyline up a bit though, so please be patient with me_

 _Some of you might be confused about the four-man team thing, but every member of team 7 is so vital (yes even Sakura, haters haha) that I couldn't bear to split them up. In the end the only time it really matters is during the chunin exams anyway, there are plenty of other instances where teams are bigger, or smaller even, than the three man squads._

 _Im also hoping that most of the readers of this fic have actually watched Naruto, since Im skipping little bits and pieces here and there, and changing tiny little details in order for it to make more sense with Harry's presence._

 _Again, Im sure I had something else I wanted to write here, but Im totally blanking. So ill just say again thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or spot any errors, please let me know, since this is self beta'd._


	4. Chapter 3 - The Land of Waves

_**Review Responses**_

 _ **Hlyarts –**_ _Yes he is, and yes it absolutely will_

 _ **Daniel 29 –**_ _At this point, no-one._

 _ **Jayswing96 –**_ _It definitely won't be. I always enjoy writing, and enjoyed writing on my other stories (which aren't abandoned just slow going) but writing this has been so so much fun. I'm having the time of my life, so its not going anywhere XD_

 _ **Light Lord Cybergate –**_ _It really is overdone haha, but I just feel that the development of Team 7 together is so vital to the storyline. I'm glad you think the way I did it worked, at least on some level._

 _ **RebeliousOne –**_ _Kakashi was definitely impressed. He was also glad to know that the Third's theory was right… Harry can make them a real team. I have decided on his element, and it probably won't be too long before you know as well. Horcruxes will make an appearance, but Harry won't be treated like a sacrifice._

 _ **Randomy –**_ _Yeah, I know that they should be in multiples of three. I had to bend canon a little to fit Harry where I wanted him to. Also in the anime, there are 27 graduates followed by a test for their jonin of which only nine can become genin. At least according to the dubbed version I watched on youtube the other day for a refresher. (Don't hate me for watching dubbed, it was the first one that popped up on youtube!)_

 _ **Dragon-vine33 –**_ _Thanks XD I also think its important to keep them together. I'll add that I'm a fan of Haku…_

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – The Land of Waves**

"Come in" Harry said politely after a few gentle raps sounded at his bedroom door. He didn't turn to see who it was, kneeling on the floor in front of his backpack.

"Got everything?" Hiashi's voice said from the doorway.

He zipped up his bag and got up, turning around to face his father. "Think so" Harry answered.

"I still can't believe you're already going on your first C-rank mission. Most genin squads don't get the opportunity until they've been together at least three months" Hiashi commented.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Well we've been together for two already" he said. "Plus there are four of us instead of three, I guess exceptions are being made."

"True enough" Hiashi said.

"It probably didn't hurt that Naruto got in Lord Hokage's face about being sick of D-rank missions" Harry added.

Hiashi happy exterior dropped at the mention of Naruto's name. He still hadn't grown to like him, though Harry supposed he had his reasons. Still, he clicked his tongue at his father disapprovingly.

"What?" Hiashi said innocently. "I didn't say anything."

Harry shook his head sadly. "You didn't have to" he answered.

Hiashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know how I feel about that boy" he said sternly.

"Naruto's not the nine tailed fox, father" Harry admonished.

"I know he isn't, it's just… it's hard for me to see him otherwise" Hiashi said weakly. Harry nodded considerately.

Harry supposed he understood why that was. Hiashi had never forgotten the night the nine-tails attacked. The Hyuga clan had lost many fine shinobi, and Hiashi himself had lost a number of friends.

"Anyway" Harry said, changing the subject. "Naruto'll be here any second" he stood up and threw his bag over his shoulders.

He walked out towards the courtyard, Hiashi following behind him. It was still dark, being so early in the morning, she he didn't expect to see Hanabi waiting for him.

"Bye big brother" she smiled. "Have a good mission!"

Harry smiled inwardly. The girl was always so exuberant. He gave her a few pats on the top of the head.

"But don't take too long" She added with a mock glare.

"It's just an escort mission. No trouble expected at all" he smiled. "Besides, the Land of Waves isn't even that far away. I'll be back before you know it" he promised.

Hanabi smiled at him.

"I hope you're not taking this too lightly" Hiashi said sternly. "Just because no trouble is expected doesn't mean that it can't occur."

"I know father. I'll keep my guard up" he assured, before smiling playfully.

"Besides, Team 7 has the best Hyuga in the Leaf, apparently. You know, now that you've gotten old and slow" Harry joked.

Harry had been mocking him relentlessly ever since the day before when he had actually managed to get a light hit on his father during one of their daily sparring sessions. It was the first time Harry had ever been able to get past his tight defences. Hiashi was able to immediately counter and subdue him, of course, but Harry still thought it was an accomplishment worth celebrating.

"Cheeky brat" Hiashi said, smirking.

"Harry!" A voice called from a distance. Harry turned to see Naruto standing in the large entrance gate to the Hyuga compound.

"I'll see you when you return Harry" His father said.

Harry turned to joined Naruto when he saw his father nod curtly in Naruto's direction before turning around and heading inside. At least, Harry _thought_ he saw him nod; maybe Harry had finally gotten through to him.

"Bye Harry!" Hanabi called out behind him.

"Did your father just _nod_ at me?" Naruto asked, amazed. "I must be growing on him" he said with a smile.

"Like a cancer" Harry teased.

"Hey shutup!" Naruto replied, punching Harry lightly on the shoulder.

"What is _he_ doing here?" a voice sneered from behind them. Harry turned to see Hiashi's father glaring at them from nearby.

"He's my teammate. We're heading on a mission" Harry said simply.

"He is not welcome in this compound" the elderly man said.

"He's here as my guest" Harry argued, his tone strong and defiant. "I'm a Hyuga and as such I can invite whoever I like" he finished.

"You are only named Hyuga because we gave you the name. Don't forget that" he answered, walking away.

Harry growled under his breath and dragged by the arm out of the compound.

"Who was that?" Naruto questioned, shaking free of Harry's angry grip.

"Father's father" Harry answered grumpily.

"That old coot is your _grandfather_?" Naruto sounded horrified.

"Not to me" Harry said firmly. He fumed in silence for the rest of their walk to the gate to Konoha.

The two of them were the last to arrive, everyone else standing just outside the giant wooden gate with the Leaf symbol above it.

"Did we seriously arrive after _Kakashi_?" Harry asked upon approach.

Kakashi had a look of pretend offence. "What are you talking about? I'm very punctual" he whined.

"Uh-huh" Harry deadpanned, giving him a blank look.

"Well if you're all done chatting" A gruff voice said, "Can we get a move on?"

It was Tazuna, their client. Harry had met him the previous day when the Hokage had assigned them the mission. They were to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves, his home, and protect him while he finished construction on his bridge. He had hired standard protection only, so the only trouble they might see would be thieves and highwaymen, and even that was unlikely.

"Right" Kakashi turned serious. "Let's go."

* * *

"I can't wait to see some action" Naruto said, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

Harry sighed. "You know theres not likely to actually _be_ any action, right?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"Of course there will be, we're on a real ninja mission now" Naruto claimed positively.

"Naruto you are such an idiot sometimes" Sakura accused. "This is a C-rank mission. It was given to us because theres a very low risk of actually seeing any combat. Did you listen to _anything_ Iruka-sensei taught us?"

Naruto and Sakura started to bicker back and forth, but Harry had stopped listening to them. Tazuna had caught his gaze. The old man wore a guilty expression on his face, and was watching Sakura and Naruto's conversation from the corners of his eyes. Something was definitely off about him.

Just as Harry was about to question him, a loud noise, like metal on metal, had them turning around in shock. Kakashi, who Harry hadn't notice mysteriously lag behind, was surrounded by sharp metal chains.

Harry activated his Byakugan immediately.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried out worriedly. The chains were connected to two men behind Kakashi, and Harry couldn't miss the cruel grins on their faces.

The chains squeezed, Kakashi's body ripping neatly in two. Sakura screamed.

"Kakashi!" Naruto repeated.

Harry would have been worried himself had he not been able to see the real Kakashi hiding in a nearby tree. Harry supposed he must have had a reason for substituting out and watching from afar though, so protecting the bridge builder now fell on them.

Harry knew he wasn't the leader of the group, even without Kakashi, but he couldn't help but take charge.

"There's two of them" Harry said powerfully. "We have to protect the bridge builder."

"You're next" one of the two men said to Naruto. The blonde looked terrified.

"Naruto move!" Harry tried, but the blonde was frozen in fear while the chains approached him from both sides.

Harry managed to get in front of him with a body flicker technique and began to spin. "Rotation!" he pronounced, pushing the chakra out of all the tenketsu in his body. The chains bounced off his spinning chakra dome harmlessly, flying into the air.

Sasuke took the advantage, jumping high into the air and forcing the chains into a nearby tree with a shuriken. He locked them in place with a well-aimed kunai.

The enemy wasn't yet finished though, detaching the chains from their strange metal gauntlets.

"Don't let them touch you with those!" Harry ordered. "They're covered with poison!"

One of the shinobi charged at Harry, poison laced claws poised for the strike. The other launched himself at the bridge builder, with Sakura jumping in front of him in defense.

"Stay behind me" she ordered, looking more determined than Harry had ever seen her.

But Harry had to focus on his attacker. He let the claw almost reach him before putting up his ultimate defense again. "Rotation" he said again, the claw bouncing backwards. As soon as the attack had been repelled, Harry let the chakra go. While still spinning, Harry took advantage of his disoriented opponent, striking at the pressure points in both shoulders, making it much harder for him to move his arms. Using the momentum he had gained from spinning he collected his opponent by the tunic and threw him upwards into the air.

Being in midair and unable to use his arms effectively, he made an easy target for the approaching Kakashi, who smashed him into the ground with a downward kick. There was no way he was getting up after that.

His partner however, was proving more difficult. Sasuke had managed to defend the bridge builder and knock him back, but now he was nearing Naruto, who simply watched in silent terror.

Before any of them could act, Kakashi was there, using a solid arm to take the enemy by the neck, knocking him unconscious easily.

"Hi" Kakashi said casually.

"But you were-" Naruto cut off, looking to where Kakashi had 'died', and seeing only a group of logs.

"Sorry I didn't defend you right away Naruto" Kakashi said. "I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that."

Naruto growled in frustration and punched the ground, hard.

"Harry, Sasuke, excellent work. You too Sakura" Kakashi complimented.

"I don't get it sensei" Sakura said. "You must have known they were there to substitute out like that… Why didn't you just take them right away?"

"I could have, but then I wouldn't have learned anything. I needed to know if they were after us, or the bridge builder" he answered, turning to Tazuna. "When you put in a request for a mission, you asked for standard protection in case of thieves and highwaymen. You didn't say anything about needing protection for shinobi" he accused.

Tazuna paled, but Kakashi didn't relent. "If you had been honest, the Leaf would have put higher level shinobi on as your protection. Instead you got a rookie genin team. If it was a jonin level ninja that was sent to kill you, instead of these two chunin, you might have gotten all four of them, and yourself, killed."

"I'm sorry" Tazuna rasped.

"We're beyond the scope of this mission. As it stands right now, this should have been a B-rank. Why did you lie? If you don't tell us, I'll have to end this mission right now" Kakashi said, taking on a tone far more serious than his usual.

"I _would_ have told the truth, but the village where I live is poor and impoverished. All the money we could gather could only afford to pay for a C-rank mission" Tazuna answered sadly.

"Who wants you dead so badly?" Kakashi asked.

Tazuna dropped his head, his large hat casting a shadow over his face.

"You know him, or at least you've heard of him... His name is Gato" Tazuna said darkly.

Harry's eyes widened. "The business mogul? He's one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world" he exclaimed.

"That's him. But he's more than just a businessman. Under the surface he's a mob boss. He runs a huge corporation of criminals, selling drugs and contraband. About a year ago he took control of all of the transport and shipping for the land of waves" Tazuna replied.

Kakashi sighed loudly.

"I don't get it. What's the big deal about shipping?" Naruto asked.

"For an island nation like the land of waves, shipping is everything. Having control over it means that Gato controls their entire economy. Tazuna here is a bridge builder. Having a bridge connected to the mainland would rob Gato of his control. You've already started construction haven't you?" Kakashi asked.

"We were about a month from completion date when I heard a rumor that Gato had hired ninja to assassinate me. I left for the Leaf village the same day" Tazuna explained.

Kakashi sighed again. "With someone as powerful as Gato pulling the strings, this is an A-rank mission. My team isn't equipped-" he began, but was cut off by Naruto.

"I don't care who this Gato is. We are gonna finish this mission" Naruto said determinately.

"Erm, Naruto? No offence, but you froze up fighting against low ranked chunin. Theres every chance we could end up fighting jonin, maybe as strong as I am" Kakashi explained.

"I don't care!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking his head wildly. "I will never back down again. I will never run away." Naruto faced Tazuna directly. "I swear I will protect you until that bridge is finished!" he promised.

Again, Kakashi sighed. "I guess we should vote on it then."

"We should finish the mission" Sasuke said coolly, as if even talking about it was a waste of time.

It only took Sasuke's acceptance to convince Sakura. "Let's do it" she said.

The entire group turned to Harry. Logically, the best move was to return to the village. It wasn't out of fear, but if they came across multiple jonin? Still, Harry couldn't help his decision.

"Let's finish the mission" he said.

Kakashi gave him a strange look. "I thought you'd vote against it. You're normally more rational than this" he said.

"Remember what I said I dislike? I do not like bullies" Harry said simply.

"Well then" Kakashi said. "Tazuna, we will finish this mission."

* * *

"I can't believe I had to be rescued" Naruto growled. He'd been going on like this for hours.

"Naruto" Harry groaned. "Give it a rest."

"Well I'm not going to let you and Sasuke beat me this time!" Naruto said running forward a few steps and throwing a kunai into the trees. Harry stood back with the rest of the group, mouth open.

"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura yelled after a few moments.

"It was just a mouse" Naruto said confidently.

"Stupid little dwarf! Stop trying to scare me" Tazuna yelled at Naruto hoarsely.

Harry merely dropped his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Harry looked up when he saw Kakashi pass him, looking into the trees.

' _He must be able to sense something'_ Harry realized.

He activated his Byakugan. He almost gasped out loud when he saw a ninja, mask on his face and a massive sword on his back watching from the trees behind them.

' _Got to stay calm'_ Harry thought, approaching Kakashi.

"You see him?" Kakashi asked quietly when he got near.

"In the tree. Seven oclo-" Harry stopped. "DOWN!" he yelled.

Harry dropped flat onto his stomach, the massive sword whirling over his head and slamming into a tree.

Thankfully, the others, including Tazuna, got the message and had ducked underneath the blade. The enemy body flickered from his position in the tree to stand on the hilt of his sword, wedged into the tree trunk in front of them.

"Well well" Kakashi announced slowly upon getting to his feet. "Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist."

"I see my reputation precedes me" Zabuza replied in a gruff voice.

Naruto started to run forward, clearly intending to attack before Kakashi stuck a hand out to stop him. "No Naruto. This enemy is beyond you. Stay out of it and protect the bridge builder" he ordered.

On his order, the four members of Squad 7 surrounded Tazuna on every side.

"If you're my opponent" Kakashi said, reaching up and revealing his other eye. "I'll need this."

Zabuza laughed. "This is going to be fun" he said, a cruel smile on his face. "Kakashi of the Sharingan. Your reputation precedes you as well, copy ninja."

' _Sharingan? But Kakashi isn't an Uchiha'_ Harry looked at Sasuke, who had a strange bewildered expression on his face.

"Sasuke how can he-" Harry began.

"I don't know" Sasuke ground out before he could finish.

Zabuza jumped over to the nearby water, performing several fast hand signs. "Hidden mist Jutsu!" he said, his body evaporating into the thick mist that was forming.

Once again, Harry thanked his Byakugan. Harry knew the others couldn't see where Zabuza was, but with the Byakugan, Harry could see him perfectly, circling around Kakashi and towards Tazuna.

Harry threw several shuriken towards him, trying to stop him from moving closer. Zabuza blocked them with his giant sword.

"How?" He asked, disbelief lining his tone.

"Kakashi, ten meters, three o'clock!" he called out.

Kakashi launched himself at Zabuza, following Harry's directions perfectly.

"It's a water clone!" Harry called out. "Six o'clock."

Kakashi stabbed the water clone and turned, blocking a blow from Zabuza's sword with his kunai.

"How is that brat able to see through my jutsu?" he demanded.

"Harry is one of the Leaf's most capable young ninja" Kakashi explained simply.

Zabuza growled and kicked out at Kakashi, landing a blow to his chest. Kakashi was sent soaring through the air.

"Don't go into the water!" Harry called out. He wasn't sure what Zabuza had done to it, but the water was flowing with his chakra.

"Too late" Zabuza smiled maliciously.

Kakashi landed in the water with a splash. In an instant, Zabuza was on him, standing on the water's surface and performing hand signs. Kakashi was struggling in the fluid, as if it were glue rather than regular water.

"Water prison jutsu!" he outstretched a hand. A dome of water surrounded Kakashi, trapping him inside.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried.

"Get out of here! Take the bridge builder and run!" Kakashi ordered desperately.

None of them moved. Even if they did run, Harry understood, they would get barely anywhere before a ninja as skilled as Zabuza was able to track them down. The only option they had was to fight.

Zabuza created another water clone, the real Zabuza holding Kakashi in his prison with one hand.

"Well I guess this jutsu is useless" clone Zabuza said, dispelling the mist. "And why is that?" He queried casually.

His eyes locked onto Harry's. "Ahh I see" he smiled, all teeth. "Byakugan."

The clone Zabuza charged at Harry, too fast for Harry to block with taijutsu. "Rotation!" he said, spinning.

Zabuza stopped in front of the chakra shield.

"Well if I can't have you. I'll just take one of your friends!" Zabuza laughed, turning to the others.

"No" Harry cried. He stopped spinning. In that instant Zabuza was on him. He swept his feet from under him, and planted a foot on Harry's chest.

"Harry!" There were numerous yells from his teammates and Kakashi.

Zabuza stomped on his chest. Harry groaned and coughed. Just before the foot had landed Harry managed to release some chakra in front of it. It wasn't enough to stop the blow, just lessen its impact."Those eyes of yours are a pain in my ass, boy" he said, stomping on him a second time. He heard a crack in his chest and coughed up some blood, choking and gurgling.

"They shouldn't be" Harry growled. "Who in their right mind would look at your skinny misshapen ass."

Zabuza laughed malevolently before stomping on Harry's chest a third time. "I'll give you this kid, you've got guts."

Sasuke and Naruto both attacked the clone Zabuza, trying to free Harry. He didn't even have to take his foot off Harry to send them flying back along the ground.

"Don't save me! Save Kakashi!" Harry said desperately. Zabuza lifted his foot from Harry's chest to his neck and pressed down, silencing him.

Harry closed his eyes and dropped his head back onto the grass. The situation was bad. Zabuza's skills vastly outstripped their own. They needed to find some way to free Kakashi, but how they would accomplish it, especially with him where he was, was a mystery.

Naruto and Sasuke must have had ideas though. "Sasuke!" Naruto called out, throwing a fuma shuriken to him. Harry looked closer. Did it have chakra running through it?

' _It's Naruto!'_ Harry realized.

With a spin, Sasuke launched the shuriken at the real Zabuza.

Harry watched in awe as he saw the Naruto transformed Shuriken follow in the path of one that Sasuke had thrown. The Shadow Shuriken jutsu. It was a brilliant plan, especially since it had come from Naruto.

Harry couldn't believe how seamless it was. There were no words that needed to be spoken between them at all. Despite their differences, Naruto and Sasuke clearly had a fairly deep understanding of one another.

"You'll never hit me with a shuriken" Zabuza said, catching the first with his index finger, spinning it around threateningly.

"What?" he exclaimed in surprise as the Naruto shuriken flew at him. He cursed and managed to jump over it with a laugh. _'Overconfident'_ Harry smirked.

"Surprise!" Naruto yelled, transforming back into himself and throwing a kunai. Zabuza had no hands left to defend himself. Instinctively, he let go of the water prison to catch the kunai in his hand. The water prison jutsu fell away.

' _Now's my chance!'_ Harry thought, looking up at the Zabuza clone who was distracted by the commotion.

Harry started with where he could reach. "Two palms!" he said, jabbing his fingers into the tenketsu on the water clone's legs. The water clone hopped back and off Harry, who quickly rose to his feet. "Four palms!" he said, striking the more vital tenketsu on its main body. "Eight palms… Sixteen Palms… Thirty-Two Palms!" he finished, the clone dissolving back into water.

Harry dropped back to his knees. Sakura started towards him.

"No!" Harry called out, holding up a hand. "Stay with Tazuna."

Kakashi stopped the spinning fuma Shuriken on Zabuza's hand with his own. "Harry. You okay?" he called out.

Harry gave him a half-hearted thumbs up. "I'll be fine" he coughed.

"You got me with that trick once" Kakashi said angrily. "It won't work a second time. I'm going to make you pay for hurting a comrade of mine."

Harry watched with widened eyes as both Kakashi and Zabuza jumped backwards, both performing the same hand signs at exactly the same time.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" they both called out. The water dragons rose from the water, meeting in the middle and cancelling each other out.

Zabuza looked concerned. Logically, Zabuza might know what the Sharingan is capable of, but meeting it in battle must be another thing entirely.

Again, both began to use the same hand seals. Zabuza however, seemed more hesitant and slow. Kakashi was playing mind games with him, panicking his opponent.

"Water Style: Water Vortex Jutsu!" Kakashi managed to finish first. A massive torrent of water rushed towards Zabuza, sending him flying back into a tree back on land. Kakashi threw a number of kunai that embedded themselves through the enemy ninja's body and stuck him to the trunk.

Harry had been so fascinated and focused on watching their battle that he hadn't even realized the second ninja that had approached from behind.

"Kakashi!" Harry managed to yell out with a cough, pointing to the second ninja's location.

Before the jonin had a chance to do anything but look, the entering ninja flung several senbon through the air.

Harry's brows drew together as the senbon stabbed through Zabuza's neck.

The ninja dropped to the ground behind Harry.

"Thank-you" he said with a small bow. "I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time."

He walked straight past Harry and towards Zabuza, whose chakra flow had slowed to a stop. There was only one reason that would be.

Kakashi put a hand on Zabuza's neck, checking for a pulse.

"No vitals" he stated.

Naruto climbed out of the water and ran up to the newcomer. "Who do you think you are!" he yelled, pointing at him.

"We've been struggling against him and then you come and kill him with a few needles?" he said angrily.

The ninja said nothing.

"Enough Naruto. He isn't our enemy" Kakashi said. "You're a hidden mist tracking ninja, am I right?"

The boy nodded. "I've been tracking him for a long time" he claimed. He couldn't have been any older than Harry himself, but was a member of the ANBU?

Harry slowly got to his feet and walked over to them.

"Harry!" Kakashi exclaimed. "You shouldn't be standing." He wrapped an arm around Harry's waist, supporting his weight.

"I must dispose of the remains" The hidden mist ninja said. With a hand sign, he was body flickering away, leaving Team 7 staring blankly after him.

 _ **Notes**_

 _Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I was trying to make the fight as close to what canon would be as possible had Harry actually been there… not sure if I actually succeeded or not but oh well._

 _You might have noticed that two months have passed since the last chapter. I figured that a fair time period would have passed before they were given the land of waves mission, so yeah._

 _As Always, feel free to ask me any questions, and please let me know if you spot any errors._


	5. Chapter 4 - Purpose

_**Review Responses**_

 _Thanks to all of you special reviewers XD_

 _ **RebeliousOne –**_ _This chapter should answer your question_

 _ **ShiroHollow96 –**_ _Pairings are as yet undecided. In this fic, I'm making magic and chakra one and the same. Wizards just don't know how to properly wield it._

 _ **Igasho –**_ _See Above answer XD_

 _ **Dekei –**_ _If Harry ever gets the Tenseigan it would be towards the very very end of the fic, so as to not make him overpowered compared to everyone else._

 _ **ShadeofDeath746 –**_ _The magic in the eyes suggestion isn't bad at all, but with how I'm approaching magic in this fic, it wouldn't quite fit. If I was writing it differently though, I would most likely use your suggestion haha. I see your point about the time skips, and agree with you about the flow issues as a result. The reason Im doing it though is because canon up until this chapter is basically the same but with Harry there. As of this point it will begin to change, so the time skips, except perhaps between this and the next chapter, shouldn't be an issue._

 _ **Kminari –**_ _Way to poke a hole straight through the fic hahaha. I've gone back and fixed it, thanks lol_

 **Chapter 4 – Purpose**

"You two are such babies" Naruto complained from where he sat next to the bed.

Harry groaned as he sat up in his bed. He gazed across to Kakashi who was already sitting up in the bed across from his own.

As it turned out, when someone other than an Uchiha uses the Sharingan, there is considerable risk. Due to the fact that Kakashi's chakra is incompatible with the Sharingan, it uses a great deal of chakra whenever it _is_ used. After his extensive use of it during his fight with Zabuza, Kakashi was suffering with chakra exhaustion, as well as a number of smaller injuries.

Thus Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and even Tazuna had to help not just the injured Harry to the Land of Waves, but Kakashi as well. Eventually though they had made it to Tazuna's house without too much fuss.

"I'm just glad nothing's broken" Harry said.

"If you hadn't thought to slow down his kicks with your chakra, you might not have been so lucky" Kakashi said. "It was fast thinking in a tight spot" he complimented. Harry flushed slightly. After seeing Kakashi in action, getting praise from him was complimentary indeed.

" _That's_ lucky?" Sakura asked, staring at Harry's badly bruised chest. Harry suddenly felt self-conscious, even though his bottom half was fully clothed _and_ under a blanket.

"It could, and should, have been far worse. If his ribs had broken and pierced his heart, he might not have made it at all" Kakashi said. Harry's eyes widened; he had no idea how close he had come to serious injury, or worse.

Sakura leaned forward, sitting cross-legged on the floor between Harry and Kakashi's beds. "Well hopefully Gato doesn't send any more shinobi our way" she said. "At least while the two of you are recovering."

Kakashi lowered his head, as if deep in thought. It didn't skip Harry's notice.

"What is it sensei?" Harry asked.

"I don't think Gato will send anyone else" Kakashi said slowly.

Harry couldn't understand Kakashi's logic at all. There was no way a man of Gato's immense wealth couldn't afford to send more ninja. Defending the bridge builder against another attack seemed inevitable in his mind.

"He must have heard that Naruto Uzumaki was here and knew it was pointless!" Naruto claimed confidently.

"You're such a loser" Sasuke grumbled.

"Yeah Naruto, can't you be serious for one minute?" Sakura agreed.

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. He decided to change the subject back. "Why wouldn't Gato send anybody else? He's one of the richest men in the world" he pointed out.

Kakashi still looked thoughtful. "That's true, however Zabuza was a _rogue_ ninja. That he was hired most likely means that none of the hidden villages would accept Gato's mission."

Still, Harry had no idea what he was talking about.

"But sensei" Sakura began, "Why wouldn't the villages take his mission if he had the money to pay for it?"

"All the villages, not just the Leaf, thoroughly investigate the details surrounding any assassination missions. Assassinating a bridge builder so that a nation's economy remains in the control of a ruthless business tycoon?" Kakashi looked between the four of them.

"That's a major red flag. Say for example the Leaf accepted Gato's mission to assassinate Tazuna and followed it through. The Land of Waves stays under Gato's control, they become even more impoverished and desolate than they are now and the Leaf is to blame. These are the sorts of acts that lead to war between nations. It is for that reason that no hidden village will commit to a mission that could devastate another nation, unless during war time" he explained. "There have been three great ninja wars in the past, but the last of them ended years ago. Nobody wants to see another" Kakashi said gravely.

"But then…" Naruto looked confused. "Why did Zabuza have the mission?"

Kakashi sighed in frustration; Harry took pity and decided to explain it to his friend.

"Like Kakashi said, Zabuza was a rogue ninja. He might have been a hidden mist shinobi at one time, but he had since abandoned his village and been declared rogue. As such he could accept any job he wanted to" Harry explained.

"So the only enemy we have to worry about now is if Gato manages to find another rogue ninja willing to take the mission?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "I doubt Gato will be able to find anyone willing or able enough. Zabuza has a fearsome reputation, and news of his defeat will spread fast; news like that always does, especially for shinobi in a bingo book" Kakashi clarified, holding up his own small black book.

Harry frowned as he listened to Kakashi's words. He had said _has_ rather than _had_. Before he could ask if it was just a slip of the tongue, Kakashi was continuing.

"But we are far from out of the woods. I think that Zabuza Momochi is still alive" he said darkly.

Harry sighed as his teammates drew back in shock. He thought about Zabuza's death. He had even seen the chakra flow slow to a halt, surely that meant the man was dead.

"But how? That masked ninja killed him didn't he? You said yourself that he had no signs of life" Sakura voiced desperately.

"He didn't. If I had been able to think clearly at the time, I might've noticed the situation was strange, but with my chakra exhaustion and Harry's injuries I overlooked it" Kakashi answered.

"What was strange?" Harry asked. "I saw his chakra flow stop with myself, the only way that can happen is if a person dies."

Kakashi shook his head once more. "There are drugs that can imitate death, and there were some oddities surrounding that tracker nin" he answered.

Sasuke interrupted. "He used senbon… A strange weapon of choice for assassination" he said broodingly.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes that's right. Not only that, but tracker shinobi are trained to dispose of a rogue ninja's remains on the spot, to prevent any of their villages secrets from falling into enemy hands. I'm guessing that the tracker ninja we ran into was Zabuza's partner" Kakashi explicated.

Naruto clenched his fists. "Then he's still alive" he growled.

Kakashi nodded. "And he will come for Tazuna" he said. "Fortunately, Zabuza was quite injured and will need time to recuperate. We can spend that time preparing and training" he said.

* * *

"Should we wake him?" Harry asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, he's overdone it again, best to just let him sleep."

Harry smiled at Naruto's sleeping form. For the last two weeks, ever since Kakashi had explained that Zabuza was likely still alive, Naruto had thrown himself wholeheartedly into Kakashi's training exercises. He'd taken to spending both his days and some nights trying to successfully master the tree climbing exercise. Clearly, the overexertion had caught up with him.

Harry himself had been too injured to train, though he seemed to be fully healed now. The tree climbing exercise Kakashi had them doing was supposed to increase your chakra control by pooling and maintaining the chakra in the tenketsu in the feet, the hardest place to control chakra; such an exercise would have been pointless for him. As a Hyuga, Harry was _already_ uniquely able to release chakra from every tenketsu in his body, and being able to see his chakra flow with his Byakugan meant that controlling it wasn't often an issue. In fact, when Harry had tried the exercise himself despite his injuries, he had walked up the side of the tree without issue. Surprisingly, so had Sakura.

"Let's go already" Tazuna gruffed. "How do you expect the bridge to get finished without me there to oversee the construction!" Kakashi nodded at their client and they followed the grumpy old man out the front door and towards the bridge.

"So Sasuke, you managed to complete the tree climbing exercise yesterday as well?" Harry asked.

Sasuke merely grunted in response. Harry smiled as if he had answered enthusiastically. Talking to Sasuke was a language in itself.

"Of course he did! Sasuke is the strongest of all of us genin. I'm just surprised Naruto managed to get it so quickly as well. Must have been luck. Isn't that right Sasuke?" Sakura asked with bright eyes.

This time Sasuke stayed completely silent, causing Sakura to drop her head in disappointment.

"I don't know, I wouldn't underestimate Naruto too much" Kakashi noted casually.

Sakura pouted. A girl like her didn't like to be disputed by her superior, Harry supposed.

As they walked onto the almost finished bridge, Harry almost gasped in surprise, as he had almost every day they were there. The bridge was a massive undertaking. It had to be wide enough for carts of supplies both coming and going off the island, and had to be long enough to reach the mainland, which was a fair distance for any bridge to reach. The fact that it was almost finished was testament to Tazuna's amazing skill as a bridge builder; it was more than likely going to be the largest and best constructed bridge in the world by far.

"I cant believe how fast progress is going" Harry commented. "You must be working your men to the bone Tazuna" he joked.

Tazuna huffed in annoyance. "If my men weren't ready to put in their all they should never have taken the job!" he announced gruffly.

Harry and Sakura shared a smirk at the old man's cranky demeanor.

"There must only be days left until completion, right?" Kakashi asked the bridge builder.

"Maybe a week at most, yes" The old man responded.

Harry frowned slightly. If the bridge was going to be finished so soon, what was Gato or Zabuza waiting for? Was Zabuza perhaps too injured to return? What would happen if he didn't show up before the bridge was finished?

"Sensei" Harry said, deciding to ask. "How sure are you that Zabuza actually lives?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful. "Honestly? It's a hunch" he answered.

Harry and the others, including Tazuna, darted their heads to stare at him. All this worry and he wasn't even _sure?_ Kakashi didn't shift his gaze from looking ahead though, and squinted his eyes.

The silver haired sensei sighed. "But my hunches usually end up being right" he said, pointing to the end of the bridge. Harry activated his Byakugan. At the end of the bridge, where the construction workers would usually be hammering away, there instead was a number of corpses. There was blood spattered along the ground in pools. It had been a massacre.

"He's here" Harry said, pointing towards the end, where a thick mist had begun rolling over. "He brought his hunter-nin friend too" he added upon seeing the same chakra as he had on the masked boy.

The five of them looked towards the growing cloud of mist to see the two figures emerge.

Without needing prompting from Kakashi, the three genin all jumped in front of Tazuna in formation.

"Well I must admit I thought you would be more surprised to see me, Kakashi" Zabuza grinned maliciously.

Kakashi ignored him, instead turning to his masked partner.

"Why don't you take off that mask? You aren't worthy of wearing it" Kakashi said. "You've either stolen that mask off a real ANBU or you've betrayed your mandate by siding with a rogue ninja. Either way you don't deserve to wear that mask."

The boy said nothing.

"I'd bring this mist forward, but I see you've still got that brat with you. Seems a bit pointless until he's dead" Zabuza nodded towards Harry.

Harry saw six water clones of Zabuza's approach from behind them. They possessed less chakra than the one that had injured him in their previous fight, likely due to the higher number of them.

"Sasuke" Harry threw his head back to notify his teammate that they were there. Sasuke though must have sensed their approach, nodding slowly.

When the clones got closer, Harry and Sasuke both turned, rapidly dispatching the clones with a quick flurry of blows. They returned to their positions guarding Tazuna.

"I see I still can't fool those eyes of yours boy, so this time I brought a friend" Zabuza growled, patting the masked boy on the shoulder and pushing him forward slightly. "Take down the brats, Haku" Harry heard Zabuza order.

Since he was wearing a mask, trying to get a read on the enemy ninja was impossible. It was unnerving. Harry might have felt better about the situation if Naruto were there. They did outnumber the enemy, yes, but not knowing anything about the masked ninja's abilities was more than a little discomforting, especially if a shinobi as powerful as Zabuza was confident in him being able to take them down.

"Yes, Zabuza" Haku responded obediently and without question.

Haku started slowly toward them.

"Harry" Kakashi said seriously, not taking his eyes off the enemy. "He's going to come for you first. Sasuke, I want you to back him up. Sakura stay with Tazuna. Zabuza's _mine_ " he ordered.

There was no time to respond though, as Haku was quickly closing the gap between them.

' _He's fast'_ Harry thought as Haku struck out with a senbon held like a kunai.

Harry blocked the arm with his own, just below the elbow.

' _But not too fast'_ he smiled.

"We only want the bridge builder" Haku said. "If you back down now, I won't have to kill you."

Sasuke jumped over Harry and aimed a kick at Haku's head, forcing the masked boy to jump backwards. While he moved, Haku used his left hand to make a number of signs.

' _One handed hand signs?'_ Harry could hardly believe his eyes. Sasuke looked equally amazed. This was definitely not going to be an easy fight.

"Secret Jutsu, Thousand Needles of Death!" Haku said. Senbon formed in the air all around them, appearing to made of ice. Harry and Sasuke both jumped high, just in time to avoid the needles.

They landed in a puddle of water that had formed from the melted ice needles.

' _I've never heard of someone having an ice nature'_ Harry realized. _'Could it be a Kekkei Genkai?'_

"I don't want to kill you" Haku said. "Just hand over the bridge builder and we can go our separate ways."

Sasuke grunted loudly. "What makes you so sure you'll win?" he asked disbelievingly.

Haku pointed at the ground beneath their feet. "I've already gained the advantage" he answered, forming hand signs faster than Harry could make them out. The air grew cold around them.

"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

Again, Ice began to form in the air, this time in tall rectangular shapes. In only moments they were surrounded by thin sheets of ice, twelve at their level on the ground, eight above them and angled towards the ground, and one that acted like a ceiling. There were small gaps between each mirrors, definitely big enough for a person to get through. It was a makeshift ice dome.

Harry couldn't figure it out. They were surrounded, so it could be assumed that the jutsu was meant to trap them there, but with those gaps, how could he force them to stay inside?

From outside, Haku stepped _into_ one of the mirrors, his image appearing in the mirror in front of them.

"One this jutsu is active, there is no shinobi that can match my speed" Haku said, appearing in one mirror after the other, until all of them held an image of him.

Sasuke turned around in a circle, looking at all the mirrors. "What do you see?" he asked Harry.

Harry analyzed the jutsu, trying to find any sign of weakness.

"They're not clones, but he's somehow in all of the mirrors at once, like he's moving between them at light speed, like a speed mirage" Harry said with awe.

The first pain Harry felt was along his sides and back. Even with his Byakugan, he had barely even seen the attack. The ground was littered with the senbon Haku had thrown. Sasuke was similarly afflicted, and had dropped down to one knee.

"How is he so fast?" Sasuke said, rising back to his feet.

"I have no idea" Harry said, completely dumbfounded. The power of the jutsu was overwhelming. He understood now how it could act as a prison even with the gaps between the mirrors; Haku was simply fast enough that he could prevent them leaving.

Outside the dome, Kakashi was trying to move towards them, but was cut off by Zabuza. The two began to fight, but Harry had to keep his focus on Haku.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu" Sasuke roared, a large plume of fire erupting from his mouth. The fire flew harmlessly into the mirror and dissipated, leaving no sign of damage.

"You'll need more heat than that to melt _this_ ice" Haku said, pulling out more senbon and holding them between his fingers.

Harry saw brief movement in the mirrors and immediately began to spin. "Rotation!" he said, emitting chakra. The senbon bounced harmlessly off his chakra shield.

"Sasuke…" Harry didn't know what to say. While Harry could defend himself, Sasuke was still utterly vulnerable to the attack and being covered with even more thin cuts.

"Are you just playing with us?" Sasuke yelled angrily. It was clear that if Haku wanted to kill them, he could have done so already, so Sasuke had a point. The senbon that had hit them so far clearly hadn't been aimed for anything vital, and all they had managed to cause were shallow cuts.

"I don't want to kill you. If you give up now we can end this" Haku sounded desperate. Harry's brows drew together in confusion.

He didn't have much time to think on it though, since outside the dome, Sakura was jumping into the air and launching a kunai at one of the mirrors. Haku stretched his body out the back of the mirror faster than the eye could see and caught it before it reached him. His speed was extraordinary.

' _Are the backs of the mirrors vulnerable then?'_ Harry thought. Why else would Haku need to catch the kunai instead of letting it hit the mirror?

At the edge of his vision, Harry could see Naruto fast approaching along the side of the bridge so as to go unnoticed. Jumping up into the air, he threw a shuriken at Haku. The Shuriken curved around the mirrors, striking Haku directly on his mask. The blow knocked his head back, but Haku seemed mostly unharmed.

' _Good timing Naruto'_ Harry thought. _'If he attacks the outside while we keep his attention fixed on us inside, we might be able to beat his jutsu!'_ He realized.

Unfortunately, Naruto was already running towards the dome. "Naruto don't!" Harry tried. It was already too late; Naruto was running through the gaps in the mirrors.

"Don't worry Harry, Sasuke, I came in here to save you" Naruto said with a smile.

Harry slapped a hand to his face while Sasuke growled loudly. "You idiot Naruto!" he said. "Do you even have a brain?"

"What? Idiot? I come in here to save you guys, and this is the thanks I get?" Naruto crossed his arms and glowered.

"Naruto, we need to attack from the outside as well as the inside, and if Sakura leaves Tazuna's side for long, Zabuza will take him down for sure" Harry explained exasperatedly.

"Oh I get it now! I'll just sneak back out" he said, turning and attempting to run back through the mirrors.

"No!" Sasuke yelled. Harry immediately pulled into another rotation as Haku unleashed another barraged of senbon, forcing Naruto back into the center.

' _Naruto, Sasuke, I'm so sorry'_ Harry thought. He felt so guilty that he was able to defend himself but was unable to do anything to help his teammates. Even if he managed to stop the senbon from hitting them on one side, Haku would just throw them from the other side, and Harry was stuck in place while he was spinning.

"You know I never wanted to be a shinobi…" Haku said sadly. "But if you force me I'll have to destroy the kindness in my heart and kill you."

' _So he really doesn't want to kill us'_ Harry realized. It explained why he wasn't going for killing blows. It didn't matter though; they couldn't hand over Tazuna to him. This was something they all understood.

"Multi-Shadow clone jutsu" Naruto growled, now also covered in scratches. The many Naruto's all made for different exits, but each was dispatched almost as quickly as they were formed.

Amazingly, this time, Sasuke seemed unharmed, although Harry was sure that some of the senbon were aimed at him as well. When he turned his head, Harry could see why.

"Sharingan" he whispered, looking into the boy's now red, patterned eyes. To activate them in the middle of a fight, and to use them immediately, Sasuke was impressive.

"Naruto, try that one more time!" Sasuke ordered. Naruto did so without question, forming a dozen shadow clones to try for the exit once more.

This time, while Harry formed his shield, Sasuke managed to avoid the senbon coming his way. Harry knew Sasuke couldn't match Haku's speed, so how was he managing to avoid the senbon? _'The Sharingan must be able to anticipate where they will be!'_ Harry discerned.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu" Sasuke said again. To Harry's eyes, it looked to have the same effect that it had before, simply dissolving with no effect whatsoever, but the smirk on Sasuke's face suggested otherwise.

"How did you read my movements?" Haku asked, clearly surprised. Harry understood what had happened when he saw the edge of Haku's kimono was singed. Sasuke had almost managed to hit him.

"It doesn't matter. My speed is still greater than yours. So be it, I will end this" Haku continued.

"He's aiming for vital points now!" Sasuke said.

It was clear to Harry why Haku now had to end it quickly. With Sasuke able to partially defend himself and Naruto, Haku was going to have a harder time of it, and his chakra reserves were dwindling quickly with such a powerful jutsu.

As Sasuke jumped in front of Naruto, Harry began to spin. When the barrage was over, Sasuke had managed to block or at least divert most of the senbon from hitting him or Naruto, but they were still becoming more and more injured. Instead of scratches this time, several senbon were embedded in both of their bodies. With his Byakugan, Harry evaluated that they had missed any vital spots. Still, they would slow both of them down, and Sasuke needed all the speed he could get to defend himself and Naruto.

Sasuke slowly stood up with a pained face and glared at the Haku's. Harry had a strange sensation when he looked at Sasuke. Something seemed different.

' _Is he… taller?'_ Harry thought oddly.

It was like a lightbulb turning on in Harry's head. Sasuke wasn't _taller_ , Harry was just standing lower than him. His rotations had caused a crater in the cement. He could get them out.

"I'm getting us out of here!" Harry exclaimed, rotating once more. This time he increased his speed as much as he could and maintained his chakra from his tenketsu point all around his body. The shield would act as a drill through the bridge.

Rotating at the speed he was, Harry couldn't tell what was happening around him, even with his Byakugan, it was all just a blur. _'Just hold on'_ Harry thought desperately, as if he could will the two of them safe.

After about a minute of spinning, and a considerable drain on his chakra, Harry felt the ground give way beneath him. Immediately he stopped and focused the chakra in his hand, grabbing the edge of the newly formed hole to swing up and stick his feet to the bottom of the bridge.

The fight was still going overhead as Harry darted back around the bridge to the top.

' _Why aren't they escaping through the hole?'_ Harry silently questioned. His question was answered only moments later as Sasuke pitched forwards to be caught by Naruto.

"No" Harry whispered, now standing outside of the ice dome. Sasuke's chakra flow was slowing to a stop, and he now had senbon sticking out of several more vital places on his body. The slowing of his chakra was eerily reminiscent of Zabuza's fake death.

As Harry moved to attack the outside of the ice mirrors, he was almost blown of his feet by a huge shockwave emanating from within it. Looking at Naruto, Harry noted that his chakra had turned orange, and was even forming outside of his body in the shape of a fox head.

"Oh no" Harry whispered to himself. It was the nine tailed fox's chakra.

Naruto roared as the senbon that were stuck in him flew back out and his wounds began to heal rapidly. Harry was further surprised to see as his blue eyes turn red, his teeth sharpen to points and the whisker-like marks on his cheeks widen and thicken.

Haku tried to impale him with more senbon, but with the nine-tails chakra, Naruto's speed and reflexes were increased tenfold and he was able to dodge easily. He charged at the nearest ice mirror and punched, the ice breaking and Haku's form flying helplessly through the air.

In this form, Harry could see that Naruto's chakra was darker, more ruthless. He could barely even see Naruto within those red eyes.

Naruto wasn't stopping with simply ending Haku's jutsu though, instead charging over to where the boy now was, trying to get to his feet. Before he could land the next powerful punch though, he stopped. Naruto's fist came to a rest just inches from Haku's face. His chakra faded from orange back to his ordinary blue, as did his physical appearance.

Haku's mask had fallen apart from Naruto's initial blow, revealing the face beneath.

"That guy in the woods, that was _you_?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.

"You _know_ him?" Harry questioned astoundingly.

Now that Harry could see his face, he couldn't help but pity Haku. There was such sadness in his eyes. It was clear that he hadn't been lying; Haku really didn't want to hurt them.

"Why do you not strike me down? Didn't you just vow to avenge your friend's death?" Haku asked.

Harry gasped as he looked at Sasuke's lifeless form behind him. It just didn't make sense. If Haku didn't actually want to kill them, why had he gone so far fighting them?

Naruto growled and threw a punch, but Harry caught his wrist before it could land.

"Wait, Naruto" Harry said before turning back to Haku. "He's not actually dead is he?" Harry asked hopefully. "It's just like with Zabuza, feigned death."

Haku said nothing, just stared back at him. Harry smiled. He knew from the look on his face that he was right.

"It's okay Naruto, Sasuke's still alive" Harry said. Naruto's smile could not have gotten any bigger.

"I'm sorry master Zabuza, I have failed my purpose…" Haku whispered, seemingly to himself.

"Why that guy anyway?" Naruto asked. "Why follow someone like him? You said in the woods that true strength comes from having someone precious to protect. Well if he's the most important person to you then that's the sorriest thing I've ever heard!" Naruto yelled.

Haku looked up in surprise at Naruto. "You wish to hear my story?" he asked.

Neither Harry nor Naruto answered, just stared at him expectantly.

"Very well" Haku answered. "I once had others who were precious to me, my mother and father. But one day I discovered I had a Kekkei Genkai, my ice style. When I showed it to my mother she slapped me and said I was to never do it again, that my village and even my father would never understand, they hated the ice style ability and had previously killed all of my clan. But my father had seen me with her. With the village supporting him, he killed my mother and tried to kill me. I was so upset that my ice style killed them all. Thus began my torment" Haku said sadly.

"For a while afterwards I lived on the streets, defending myself from wild dogs and stealing food from trash. In the whole world, there was nobody who needed me. I was unnecessary, and that was a worse pain than the cold, hunger and the dogs combined" Harry saw Naruto's eyes widen at his choice of words. Naruto evidently understood the exact feeling. Harry understood it too, from his time with the Dursleys.

"But then I met Zabuza, and he looked at me without fear and loathing. I felt visible again, needed. Indeed, my powers were exactly what he needed. I vowed to be his weapon, to be what he needed. My purpose in life was to serve him, to be his tool in whatever way he needed" Haku broke off before continuing.

"You asked why Zabuza? Because he is who needs me, and he gives me a purpose. But I have failed that purpose by losing to you. I have no more reason to live" he said. "Please," he asked after a moment. "Kill me."

Harry understood him far better now. Haku only wanted to feel needed. It was just bad luck for him that someone like Haku was the one who had given it to him. Harry once felt the same way about Hiashi after he adopted him. If Hiashi had abandoned the village, Harry would gladly have followed him and done whatever he asked. But he had learned a lot since then, and now he had an entire village of people to protect and serve. He knew now that it had to be his own decision to serve the village, and nobody else's.

Naruto growled loudly. "That's the stupidest story I've ever heard. Zabuza treats you like a slave! You're a human being not a weapon. Why care about someone like that?" Naruto asked angrily.

Haku sighed. "For that reason exactly. Like I said, Zabuza needed me, and that gave me a purpose again. But now I am a broken tool, a blunted weapon. I am no longer of use to him. Please Naruto, kill me" Haku pleaded.

Harry interrupted them. "I used to feel as you do" he said slowly. "Before I came to the Leaf village, I was invisible too. There was nobody who needed me, nobody who would care if I simply disappeared."

"Then you understand" Haku breathed.

"I know how you feel, but I know now that there is more to life than just living for another person. You have to live for yourself too" Harry said. "I know that you understand that. Zabuza would have you kill us without mercy as he would, but in your heart you know yourself. You know that killing us would be wrong, and so would killing Tazuna. A weapon cannot think for itself, it can only do kill what its master wants killed. If you just thought of yourself as a weapon, then you were blunt before you even began to fight us today."

Haku's eyes widened. Harry knew he could see the truth of his words.

"Then even more reason to kill me" Haku reasoned. "I had already lost my purpose."

Harry shook his head. "No, the point is that you aren't, and never were, a weapon. You are your own person and not what Zabuza made you. You should be grateful for Zabuza for allowing you to feel needed again, but your purpose isn't to serve him or anyone else. It is to serve yourself, that is the only purpose that anybody has in this world" Harry explained.

"You speak as though you think people should behave however they want" Haku said.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't getting it out the way he wanted to.

"No" he said. "I just think that people should be true to themselves. I can see that you are gentle, Haku. You would rather impose kindness on the world than harm. Every moment you serve Zabuza's dreams is a betrayal of your own soul."

Haku looked confused. Harry's words were disputing his whole way of life, but he didn't seem able to disregard them.

"Deep down, you know who _you_ are beyond Zabuza" Harry finished.

"Lightning blade!" They all turned suddenly to see Kakashi forming a lightning jutsu in his hand. Zabuza was restrained by Kakashi's summoned dogs across from him.

Haku gasped. An ice mirror began to form next to him and directly in front of Zabuza. He meant to take the killing blow for him.

Harry lashed out with a gentle fist strike, knocking him to the ground and keeping him from moving.

"Zabuza, no" he whimpered as he landed with a thud.

"I'm sorry Haku, it is for your own good" Harry said sadly as tears streamed down Haku's innocent face.

Harry deactivated his Byakugan when Kakashi's jutsu struck, piercing Zabuza straight through the chest.

Naruto walked over to where Zabuza lay dying. Harry couldn't hear what Zabuza said to him, but Naruto yelled loudly enough to hear his response.

"You ungrateful bastard! Haku lives for you! While he was sacrificing his whole existence for you, you never felt anything at all for him? You're the most important thing in the world to him! He would have thrown his life away for you, and you're only complaint is that he didn't sacrifice himself for you? It's just so wrong!" Naruto screamed.

Tears continued to stream down Haku's face. Harry looked on with surprise as tears began to fall down Zabuza's face as well. Naruto's words must have reached something in him.

Harry reopened the tenketsu he had closed on Haku, who jumped immediately to the dying ninja's side.

"Master Zabuza, I have failed you" he said.

"Don't apologise Haku" the man coughed. "I have failed you. This boy has shown me that" he moved his eyes to look at Naruto. "You're no longer my tool Haku" Zabuza said.

Haku gasped and his face looked pained. It was as though his very existence had disappeared once again with those words.

"You are Haku of the Ice Style. It's time to have your own dreams" Zabuza said softly before his eyes closed, never to open again.

The only sound that could be heard was Haku's crying. It carried on for several minutes until Sakura called out behind them. Harry hadn't even realized she had gone to his body. She had probably assumed he was dead, he realized guiltily.

"Guys! Sasuke's okay!" she called out happily, helping the boy back to his feet.

Naruto smiled back at him and gave him a thumb's up. Sasuke returned the gesture.

"Well well, I guess the Demon of the mist wasn't so demonic after all" A voice said from behind them.

They all turned to face a huge crowd, a short man wearing a suit standing at the head of them.

"Gato" Haku hissed angrily.

"It's a good thing I brought some friends with me. If you want something done you have to do it yourself" Gato continued.

Harry reactivated his Byakugan. With surprise he saw that the entire village was coming to help, led by Tazuna's young grandson, Inari. _'Naruto must have really inspired him'_ Harry smiled.

"Don't you dare belittle him!" Haku yelled angrily, charging forward at the group. He ducked and weaved his way through the crowd, chasing after Gato who was running away.

"Well, I don't have too much chakra left, but I think I can help" Kakashi said.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he and Naruto both said. Naruto only had enough chakra to form a few clones, but Kakashi managed more than a dozen. The Kakashi and Naruto clones, along with Harry charged the enemy group. Fortunately they were not shinobi, which meant that they made easy targets. Without chakra flowing through their bodies, they were slow and weak.

Harry watched behind the fighting as Haku bore down on Gato, leaning over the short man and whispering something in his ear.

In the next moment, Gato was running back towards the boat that they had arrived on, underneath the unfinished bridge.

"Retreat!" he called out, clearly terrified of whatever Haku had said to him. Gato and his men quickly boarded the boat, in fear of both Haku and fighting the other three shinobi, who clearly outstripped them in every way.

Harry lifted his foot to release the last one who had been pinned underneath him.

"Don't come back" Harry warned as the man sprinted off towards the now leaving boat.

They walked over to where Sasuke was sitting up, and Inari was arriving with the entire village.

"Aww did we miss it?" the young boy asked, hoisting his small crossbow up to his shoulder.

* * *

"I can't believe they named it the great Naruto bridge" Harry said, walking next to his friend.

"Well believe it" Naruto said happily. "They recognize the future Hokage when they see him."

Harry rolled his eyes.

" _I_ can't believe Haku decided to come with us. Is that even allowed?" Sakura asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, watching Haku walk next to Kakashi up ahead. "Kakashi isthe one who offered, and Haku never actually belonged to another village, so theres no reason he _can't_ join us" he said logically. Harry was glad Haku had decided to come along. He could think of no better place than the leaf to find a new life.

"If you say so. He's really actually very nice once you talk to him a bit, don't you think Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke typically grunted in response.

Naruto pointed at him judgmentally. "You're just annoyed that he beat you, Sasuke" Naruto accused.

Sasuke wasn't the only one annoyed. Although they had won the battle, if Haku had been actually trying to kill them, there was no way they could have beaten him. Sasuke and Naruto had been hurt, and all Harry had been able to do was defend himself. His entire clan thought of him as a genius, but he hadn't even been able to save his friends from harm. He hadn't felt so useless since he lived with the Dursleys.

"Shutup, loser" Sasuke eventually responded.

"I can't wait to get back to the village! I'm itching for some Ichiraku's!" Naruto said excitedly, but Harry had tuned himself out of the conversation. During his time at the academy, and even in the time since then, Harry had thought himself a capable shinobi. He had equal highest marks in the academy, had the Byakugan and was capable in its use, and had exceptional defense and taijutsu skills. He could see now however just how wrong he was.

The world was full of talented shinobi. The next time they came up against a strong opponent, Harry vowed to do more than just defend himself. He vowed that his nindo, his ninja way, meant always having the power to protect those precious to him. He would make that his purpose.

 _ **Notes**_

 _Hey guys, sorry about the wait, but I'm back at Uni now, so I have less time than when I published it (I was on break). Ill update as fast as I can though!_

 _From this point on, canon will begin to change._

 _I had a review that said Harry was a one-trick pony. That_ _ **is**_ _intentional, and you might've gathered by the last paragraph that Harry is going to throw himself into training. This fight with Haku was a real turning point. Harry now realizes how much stronger he needs to become._

 _Also, Kminari pointed out to me that Hiashi's wife couldn't have died during nine-tails attack, otherwise who would be Hanabi's mother. I clearly didn't think that all the way through lol, so thanks Kminari! Ive gone back and fixed it._

 _As always, any questions or anything, feel more than free to contact me._


	6. Chapter 5 - Katabami Gold Mine

Chapter 5 – Katabami Gold Mine

"Are you sure they're ready for that Lord Hokage?" Iruka asked. "It's been labelled a B-rank mission after all."

Hiruzen looked up at Kakashi from under his large Kage hat. "They're your team Kakashi, what do you think?" he asked.

Kakashi held the bottom of his chin thoughtfully. "Of my four genin, I'd say only two are ready for a mission such as this." He let go of his chin and looked at the Hokage. "Naruto is too reckless and unpredictable, and as you know these missions often require absolute precision to avoid conflict. If conflict does occur, I don't think Sakura is yet prepared to face other shinobi in battle, at least not on her own."

Iruka nodded rapidly from his seat besides the Hokage, that view obviously agreeing with his own.

"Sasuke and Harry?" The Hokage asked.

"Are ready" the white-haired jonin assured him. "Assuming I'm going along as well, of course" he added.

Iruka had stopped nodding and was now slowly shaking his head. "Lord Hokage, I don't think-" he cut himself off and looked at Kakashi. "With all due respect, it wasn't so long ago that these were my students. Sasuke and Harry graduated with the highest marks, and are both very impressive, but this is a _B-Rank mission,_ and they don't have enough experience" he said.

"But they can never say they are experienced without first getting some" Kakashi retorted. "Like I said, they _are_ both ready. As you know, Sasuke is… _determined_ " Kakashi said, trying to find a work that adequately summed up Sasuke's desire to become stronger, and concluding that a strong enough word didn't quite exist. "As for Harry… he has found much strengthened resolve after the Land of Waves. In fact I've been training him alone, outside our team training sessions" Kakashi admitted.

"You have? What about Hiashi?" The Hokage asked, clearly surprised. Kakashi could understand why. The Hyuga were renowned for depending on their own clan's techniques, and tended to keep their training amongst themselves.

"He trains with his father as well, but Harry has decided against depending on just his eyes and his taijutsu. We've been working on his first nature transformation, amongst other things."

The Hokage hummed his approval. Kakashi himself was impressed with the boy. It took a lot for him to admit the Hyuga techniques had shortcomings, especially since he wasn't technically born into the clan, and would have initially have been desperate for their approval, even if that had lessened in the years since his arrival.

" _Apparently,_ he has a new nindo. To always have the power to protect those he loves" Kakashi added.

At that, the Hokage smiled. "I knew the Will of Fire would burn hotly in him from the moment he was brought into this office" the old man said.

"Indeed" Kakashi responded with a knowing smile.

"Very well then" Hiruzen said finally, clapping his hands together. "You will take Harry and Sasuke with you." At Iruka's attempt to interrupt, the Hokage continued. "However… you are not to take any unnecessary risks. If conflict occurs, end it quickly and make your way back here, do not separate from them unless absolutely essential. Protecting the two of them is as much a priority as completing the mission."

"Understood" Kakashi said before waiting several moments. "What about Haku? I believe he too has the skills necessary" Kakashi asked.

"I don't doubt it. As skilled a shinobi he is, I believe it's best he stay in the village to learn things others take for granted. While you are away he will team with Naruto and Sakura and take D-rank missions" the Hokage told him.

"Of course."

"You know…" Iruka interjected slowly. "Naruto isn't going to take this well."

Kakashi sighed.

* * *

"What!" Naruto cried out. "Team 7 finally gets something other than a dog-walking mission or picking some old bat's weeds and I'm not even allowed to go?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wooden bridge railing, hands in his pockets.

"Naruto, this mission is _delicate._ If we are caught interfering with another nation and hidden village without reason, we could cause an international incident" Kakashi explained.

"I don't get it Sensei… If the mission is so delicate shouldn't it be an ANBU mission?" Sakura asked.

"If it were one of the five great nations, absolutely. Ordinarily this would be as well, but the ANBU are mostly busy with higher priority missions, and the Hokage wants to know the capabilities of the village genin over the coming months. It just happens to be Harry and Sasuke's turn first" Kakashi answered.

"Does that mean Sakura and I will get our own B-Rank too?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"You'll get your own mission, yes. A suitable mission just has to be given first" the sensei answered him. Harry noted that he didn't necessarily say that it would be a B-rank.

"Why are we being tested all of a sudden?" Harry asked suspiciously. It seemed strange to him that they were being tested out of nowhere. Something had to be going on.

"I don't think I'll share that with you yet" he answered before turning to Sasuke and Harry alone. "So you understand what is involved with this mission?"

"Investigate the Katabami Gold Mine to see what Tanigakure and the Land of Rivers is hiding there" Harry said simply. "But I don't fully understand. If we don't know what we are actually looking for, what makes us think they are hiding anything at all?"

Kakashi nodded, clearly having expected the question to be asked. "The mine was formerly one of the world's biggest trouble spots. As the largest Gold mine in the elemental nations, whoever holds it has the potential for incredible wealth. Mercenary and missing-nin vied for control constantly before control was won by the newly formed Land of Rivers and it's hidden village Tanigakure. For the last two decades they have kept firm control of the mine and kept output at a respectable level so as not to make their nation too powerful too quickly, and upset the economic and power balance between the nations" he said.

"And now?" Sasuke asked, finally adding to the conversation.

"The most recent Tanikage died not too long ago, and the Village Hidden in the Valleys elected a new leader, a man we know almost nothing about. Not long after, the defense of the mine heightened considerably, and it's output skyrocketed."

"If their defense is higher, obviously they are expecting an attack, or they have something they don't want the other nations to know" Harry deduced.

"Leaf intelligence believes it's the latter."

"So unfair! I could totally do that mission" Naruto sulked.

Harry smiled and put a comforting hand on his friends shoulder.

"Sunrise tomorrow then?" Harry asked their jonin sensei.

"Right" Kakashi nodded.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke" Harry said.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted. Harry smiled at him and jumped onto the bridge followed by the nearby roof, heading back towards the Hyuga compound.

* * *

"Be careful" Hiashi said, grasping Harry on the shoulder. It was just before sunrise, which meant of course that Kakashi was not yet there. Sasuke was though, trying, and failing, to ignore Naruto's begging to come along with them.

"I will" Harry said. "If everything goes to plan, we will be in and out and they'll never even know it."

"Right. If you do come across trouble, keep each other safe" Hiashi said, loud enough for Sasuke to hear as well. The Uchiha looked at him and nodded once before returning his gaze out of the Konoha gate.

"Kakashi!" Naruto called out as he saw the white-haired man approaching. "Are you sure I can't come along? I promise I'll listen to every word you say. C'mon, please?" he begged.

"No, Naruto" Kakashi said resolutely. "The Hokage only allowed me to take Harry and Sasuke. Not to mention that any more than three of us increases our chances of being seen."

Naruto's face dropped in sadness.

"We'll train together when we get back. I'll even treat you to Ichiraku's!" Harry promised him.

"Yeah, alright" Naruto said as he slowly walked away, dragging his feet.

"Well then, shall we go?" Kakashi said, nodding at Hiashi before walking through the massive gates, Sasuke following after him.

"I'll see you soon" Harry told his father and walked after his team.

* * *

The Land of Rivers was not far from the Land of Fire, so they were at the mine by late afternoon. The mine itself looked to be quite large, and had three separate entrances at three different cliff heights. Guards patrolled near all the entrances.

The three of them sat in a tree overlooking the mine from above.

"What do you see Harry?" Kakashi asked.

"Three entrances. There, there and there" Harry pointed them out, scanning the area with his Byakugan. He scanned the people as well, deducing by their chakra flow which were shinobi and which were not.

"Twenty Shinobi guards, plenty more non-shinobi patrolling as well. There are far more workers than I was expecting. I'm not surprised that the mine's output has increased with the amount of people they have working it."

"Can you see inside?" he asked.

"Not far. There doesn't seem to be any guards patrolling inside, at least not for the first twenty metres or so. I'd guess there are more inside, but I can't see from this distance" Harry answered. "I can tell from here that the inside is massive."

Kakashi sighed. "I was hoping that we wouldn't have to split up, but there's no way around it."

"Will we wait for nightfall?" Sasuke asked. Harry figured that was the best plan, then they could use the darkness as cover for getting inside, but Kakashi's face told him there was something else to consider.

"No. They will have more guards at night for that exact reason, and once we are inside we can use the natural darkness of being underground to our advantage" Kakashi decided.

"I will take the bottom entrance, Sasuke, you take the one above mine, and Harry you take the top entrance" Kakashi said.

"Right" Harry and Sasuke both said.

"If you get spotted, escape immediately. Don't get into any fights. If you think the guards are alerted to our presence, leave immediately" he said in a serious voice.

"Understood" Harry said, Sasuke nodding once.

"We meet back here in an hour. If I'm not here, get back to the village" he said before jumping out of the tree and straight down to the bottom level. Sasuke jumped out after him.

Harry lingered for a few moments to watch the top entrance. There were guards near the entrance, but none standing directly in the way. Still, if Harry were to try to head straight in, he'd be spotted for sure. Formulating a plan, he jumped down and hid by the cliff, knowing that the rocks would block their view of him.

Harry was suddenly grateful for his renewed resolve to learn techniques outside the Hyuga clan. If not for his training with Kakashi, sneaking in past the mine's guards might well have been beyond him. But as he had been, Harry had discovered his first nature transformation.

He knew he was very far from mastering the element, but he was confident he could do what he needed to. He began to form hand signs.

"Wind Style: Gentle Breeze" he whispered, pushing his chakra out and transforming it to wind. He might not be able to yet perform any combat jutsu with it, but something simple like this ought to work.

If it was a clear day, it wouldn't make any sense, but the wind from the natural weather was already picking up dust from the rocky terrain, and Harry's jutsu simply added to it, considerably lowering visibility, at least for those without the Byakugan.

Harry quickly ran back up the cliff and sideways towards the entrance, knowing that the guards were less likely to look up and spot him than if he were to hide at ground level. He quickly dropped in front of the entrance and slipped inside.

Kakashi was right, the inside was dark, lit only by flaming torches spread at a fair distance away from each other. He activated his Byakugan again. There were certainly guards inside, but most of them seemed to be in rooms above him, sleeping. Again Kakashi must have been correct, and these were the guards that would be put out on patrol at night.

Below him were the large chasms of the actual mine itself, and there had to be hundreds of people working down there. But it wasn't the sheer number of workers that was shocking as much as the type of people who were. He would have thought that the majority of the workers would be physically fit men, maybe some women, but there was a vast number of young children and elderly working as well. Something was definitely off with that.

Harry ran forwards and deeper into the mine. It ran deep, and the Byakugan revealed that even with the three of them, they could never explore the entire mine unless they were there for hours, and if they did remain for that long there was almost no doubt they would be discovered.

Harry glued himself flat to the high roof with his chakra as he looked ahead, just in time for two guards to pass by underneath him, blissfully unaware of his presence. He dropped back down and continued forwards, darting into empty rooms and already mined chasms on his left and right. He passed many mine shafts along the way, but decided to stay on the same level, in case the shaft continued down to Sasuke's level.

As he moved forward, he could just make out the form of some people on the edge of his vision. The image became clearer as he continued forward. Through the walls, he wasn't sure exactly what they were doing, but they seemed to be crowded around somebody who was lying hunched on the ground.

Harry quietly slipped into the room and stuck close to the wall, where it was darkest.

"Damn traitor" one of the shinobi cursed, and kicked out at the body on the ground. The boy on the ground, probably about Harry's age, let out a pained grunt. Their hitai-ate labelled them as ninja from Tanigakure, including the boy on the ground, though his had a cut straight through the middle. Missing-nin.

He had light brown, shaggy hair that ran down to his neck, though it was slightly matted with dried blood. His eyes too were brown, and his nose was bleeding on his badly bruised face.

"You're the traitors" the boy coughed.

"And hows that?" one of his captors laughed, giving the boy another kick for good measure.

"You think you're good little soldiers for obeying _his_ orders? Lord Tanikage would never have asked us to do anything like this, _never_ " the boy responded coldly.

One of the four shinobi picked the boy up by his collar and spat in his face. "That old fool is dead, and he got us no further ahead in this world than when he started. The new Tanikage will make us one of the strongest Hidden villages" he said.

' _This new Tanikage is obviously going to be a problem.'_

"By stepping on the backs of his people? Or are they _all_ his slaves now?" the boy questioned coldly.

' _Slaves! Of course! That explains why the elderly and youth are all working the mine too!'_

Harry decided this boy was the best evidence he was going to find. He needed to bring him before the Hokage as a witness. That said, Kakashi had told him not to fight, and if he couldn't take the four out quickly, he would be giving himself and his team away.

He made his decision. His conscience simply wouldn't let him leave this boy to the mercy of the others, even if his orders might have suggested he should.

Harry slowly approached them from behind and crouched low into gentle fist stance. The missing-nin's eyes widened as he saw him, prompting his captors to slowly turn to see what he was looking at.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty- Four Palm!" Harry exclaimed, launching himself at the four and striking rapidly at their tenketsu points. Sixteen hits each person meant that they would be unconscious for hours.

"What?" the boy said dazedly, now on the ground from where the shinobi had dropped him.

Harry helped him to his feet.

"We have to move, quickly" he told him.

"Leaf Ninja? But what are you doing here?" he asked, eyeing Harry's hitai-ate.

"No time, we have to go now. I'm due to meet my team outside and we don't have a lot of time. Can you move on your own?" Harry asked.

The boy nodded and followed Harry out the door and into the long hallway again, this time heading back in the direction of the outside.

"Wait, we can't leave yet" the boy said desperately, though he kept running behind him.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"They have my little brother. Took him as one of their slaves. He's only seven years old" he said.

' _Damn'._

"Is he on this level or deeper in the mine?" Harry asked.

"They keep the children on the lowest level. I was about to go and get him when they captured me" he said.

' _Double damn'._

"Then we'll have to come back for him another day. I don't know if we'll have time to get down there and out before they increase the security for the night. Not to mention if they find the bodies back there they will be on high alert" Harry said, though he felt wretched about it.

"It has to be now. They know that he's my brother. As soon as they discover I've escaped they'll torture him or use him as bait. They might even kill him just to get to me."

Harry was silent for several long moments as they continued out. "We need to get outside first and speak to my Team Captain. He was investigating the lowest level, so he's our best bet at finding him."

"But-" he tried to say before Harry turned to cut him off with a look. "I won't leave here without him. I promise" Harry said.

Harry knew he shouldn't be making promises like that, but he couldn't help it.

Harry put his hand out to slow the other boy down when they neared the outside. It was obviously very close to sunset now, as Harry could just make out the orange skyline above.

With his Byakugan, Harry noted that none of the guards were looking towards them.

"Can you walk up the cliffs?" Harry asked. The boy was obviously trained as a ninja, but he had no idea as to what his skillset was. He looked around the same age as Harry himself, so there was a chance he hadn't learned how yet.

Thankfully, the boy nodded.

"On my signal" Harry said.

Still watching with his Byakugan, Harry waited for the sun to come out from behind a cloud and shine on the opening beyond. Hopefully that meant that none of the guards would turn towards the entrance to shield themselves from the sun's glare.

"Now" he said, darting out the door and jumping upwards. He glued his feet to the rocky wall with his chakra and darted upwards, watching with his Byakugan to make sure they weren't spotted.

They clambered over the top and backed off from the edge, out of the view of any potentially looking guards. Still, they had no time to waste, and Harry guided him over towards the small spattering of trees that was their meeting spot.

Thankfully, Kakashi and Sasuke were already there.

"Who's this?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the other boy warily.

"I rescued him from some of the Tanigakure ninja inside" Harry explained quickly.

Harry almost flinched at the look of disappointment that flashed in Kakashi's visible eye.

"Harry…" he began.

"No time to explain. Once they find out that he's escaped, his little brother will be in danger. He's inside, enslaved. He's only seven" Harry said quickly, giving only the most pertinent details.

"Then they _are_ using slaves" Kakashi lamented. He turned to face the other boy. "How certain are you that your brother will be in danger when they learn of your escape? Is there a chance they won't do anything to him?" Kakashi asked.

"No. The ninja of the Village Hidden in the Valleys have become cruel under the new Tanikage. They will hurt him just to spite me" he spat.

"Did you come into conflict with anyone?" Kakashi asked Harry.

"I had to knock out four Valley shinobi to rescue…" Harry stopped to look at the boy. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Tomu" the boy answered simply.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. "No alarm, so we have to assume they haven't found them yet. Is there any chance they will wake in the next thirty minutes?"

"No. None" Harry assured him.

"If we're going to do this, we have to move right now" Kakashi said. "Sasuke, what do you think?"

Sasuke shrugged indifferently. "We got in once without being seen."

"Thank-you" Tomu breathed to all of them.

"I'm assuming he's on the lowest level?" Kakashi questioned.

Tomu nodded unsurely. "How do you know?" he asked in return.

"There are dormitories filled with children down there. Many dormitories" Kakashi warned, his message that they might not find one boy amongst all of them was clear. "I'm sorry, but if we can't find him in the next thirty minutes, we have to leave without him."

Tomu nodded reluctantly, suddenly pale.

Kakashi then abruptly jumped from the tree and down the cliff towards the lowest section of the mine. Tomu jumped after him, with Harry and Sasuke following behind them.

They landed next to Kakashi behind a group of rocks, out of the view of the patrolling guards.

Kakashi began moving his hands quickly. "Earth Style: Tunnel Voyage" he said. The ground opened up behind them and Kakashi slipped inside, motioning for them to follow.

"Stay close to me" he said, still forming hand signs as he walked forwards underground.

Sasuke employed a small fire style jutsu and held it in his hand so they could see.

"Are we underneath the entrance?" Kakashi asked Harry.

"Yes, they won't see us. There's nobody immediately inside" he informed him.

Kakashi opened up the ground inside the mine and helped them all out of the hole.

"The first of the children's dormitories are on the left up ahead" Kakashi explained.

"Then we have a problem" Harry said, looking ahead with his Byakugan.

"Are there no children in there?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Harry was silent as he scanned the large room Kakashi was talking about. It was tall, obviously a former mining area. But it didn't look like a children's dormitory. For one, there was only one child, and he was being held with a kunai to his throat in the middle of the room. There were two other shinobi behind the hostage taker. Above them, high up in the mining shaft were about twenty five shinobi, waiting in preparation to drop down on what would, if not for Harry's Byakugan, have been easy prey.

"They either know we're here, or they think only that Tomu has escaped and will come for his brother" Harry said. He explained the trap that had been set for them.

"If they know we're coming here, we can assume the guards outside are ready to face us as well" Kakashi said slowly, trying to formulate a plan.

Tomu had gone very pale after Harry had mentioned the boy being held at the end of a kunai.

"We still have an advantage" Kakashi guaranteed him. "Thanks to Harry, we can spring a trap on them, rather than them on us."

"Right" Sasuke said. "The biggest problem in there is the guy with the knife on the boy's neck."

"I can handle him" Tomu said, his voice laced with absolute surety.

"You think you can talk him down?" Kakashi asked curiously. Hostage situations were notoriously difficult to resolve without talking them down, so Tomu's confidence in his ability to take the man down seemed strange.

"I don't need to" Tomu said.

"If you're certain" Kakashi said uncertainly. "I can get the two of you into position on either side of the room with earth style" he said, referring to Harry and Sasuke, "and I can set myself up above you to block those who would drop in" Kakashi said.

"As soon as Tomu makes his move, drop the two behind the hostage-taker" Kakashi ordered.

"Right. But we will need to make a quick getaway, and if they're waiting outside for us…" Harry said.

"We've no choice but to punch through and try to get back to the Land of Fire as quickly as possible" Kakashi said, already performing the hand signs necessary for his earth style jutsu.

Harry nodded and stepped behind his sensei, following him into the wall and getting into position on the left side of the room. He watched as Sasuke set himself up on the other side of the room. For a few tense minutes they waited, Tomu giving them time to prepare before making his move.

Tomu began performing hand signs before he was even in the room. Suddenly he raised his hands and stepped through the door. From the look on Tomu's face, the little boy the shinobi held was definitely his brother.

"Perform a single hand seal and this kunai goes in his neck" the man said.

"It's going to be okay, Aki" Tomu promised his young crying brother.

"The Seimei clan have had ninja in the Village hidden in the Valleys for decades. Why would you betray us now?" the man said, ignoring Tomu's consoling words to the young boy.

"I betrayed you? Because I questioned the wisdom and morality of enslaving the very people we were sworn to defend?"

"You were sworn to obey the Tanikage!" the man roared at him.

"The Tanikage killed my parents for speaking against him and enslaved my little brother!" Tomu yelled back, dropping his hands to his sides.

"Hands where I can see them! I won't have you controlling _my_ weapon" the Tani ninja said.

Tomu's face was passive. "I already do" he said, and gave a wave of his hand.

The kunai that was held to Aki's neck suddenly lunged backwards and into the shinobi's own neck, blood spilling over the hand and down his front.

Harry was so surprised he almost that that was his signal to take out the man in front of him. He didn't though, simply hesitated for a very brief moment before crashing through the earth wall and striking the man's main tenketsu point.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Kakashi's voice rang out above him, a thick earth wall forming over their heads and blocking the men from getting down to them easily.

Kakashi dropped down and grabbed the still shocked Aki and threw him around his back piggy-back style. "I've got him, let's go" he ordered, running back out towards the exit.

None of them hesitated now, sprinting after him.

"Can't they just use a paper bomb to break through your mud wall?" Harry asked as they ran.

"They won't risk collapsing the shaft" Kakashi said.

"They're blocking the exit!" Harry warned.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi ordered.

Still running, Sasuke's hands began to blur in movement before he lifted them to his mouth.

"Fire Style Fireball Jutsu!" he yelled, letting out a massive ball of flame that headed straight down the long hallway and through the entrance. The men that were blocking it jumped out of the way to avoid the jutsu, allowing them to rush through and jump up the cliff.

"Keep going, we need to make it back to the Land of Fire!" Kakashi yelled out to them.

They quickly made it to the top of the cliff and ran into the thick brush of the forest.

Luckily, Harry still had his Byakugan active, or the arrow that was heading towards him would absolutely have hit. Instead, Harry managed to jump aside and narrowly miss it.

"Paper Bombs!" Harry called out, seeing the thins strips of paper stuck to the trees up ahead. Sasuke and Kakashi, with Aki on his back, made it through without them exploding, but Harry saw them ignite just as he and Tomu were about to jump through the trees.

Harry jumped sideways and tackled Tomu out of the way.

They hit the ground with a thud, but were unharmed. Behind them, Kakashi and Sasuke had started to turn back.

"Keep going!" Harry called out to them.

Harry launched himself to his feet just as the attacker, obviously the one who had shot the arrow, judging from the bow he held in his hands, was just about to reach Harry from the air with an outstretched fist.

Harry's hand darted upwards and wrapped around the man's fist, twisting the man so he landed on his back, hard. He struck his chakra point for good measure. In the distance, but closing in fast were about ten more.

Harry picked up the man's bow, and quickly wrapped his quiver around his own back.

He hadn't fired a bow since he was in the academy, but his body remembered how to do it, and with his Byakugan, his eyesight was perfect.

In one fluid movement he plucked an arrow from the quiver and lined it up on the bowstring. He took a deep breath and loosed, watching the arrow fly through the leaves and embed itself into one shinobi's chest. It was an impossible shot without the Byakugan, but with it, he could see further and through obstructions.

He loosed another, and another, and another, watching the incoming men fall one at a time.

"I need a weapon!" Tomu said beside him.

Harry reached down and unhooked his weapons pouched and tossed it to him before reaching back for another arrow.

The men were in sight without the Byakugan now, but Harry managed to shoot another one down before he knew what was happening.

Next to him, Tomu had pulled several kunai from the pouch and was performing hand signs over them. Harry could only focus on what he was doing so much, since their were enemies approaching, but he noticed them float slowly into the air. Just like before, Tomu waved his hand and the kunai shot out, sailing towards the incomers and slamming into their chests.

Harry looked at him strangely. Tomu shrugged and jumped into the trees, Harry following straight after.

Kakashi and Sasuke had slowed down for them to catch up, and so Harry and Tomu found them quickly.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi questioned.

Harry nodded. "Tomu and I bought us a few minutes, but more will be coming" he said.

* * *

Harry stood as Kakashi jumped back into their small camp. "Well?" he asked.

"No sign of any followers" Kakashi said. "Still, I created a few false trails just in case, but this deep back in the Land of Fire, I don't think they will follow.

Harry didn't think so either. They'd ran through most of the night, and now it had to be in the early hours of the morning. It had been hours since they had seen any sign of the enemy, but they had come fairly deep into the Land of Fire just to make sure.

"Get some sleep" Kakashi told them. "I'll take the first watch."

Sasuke obviously needed no encouragement, lying back on the ground and turning away from them.

Aki had already fallen asleep the moment they had stopped. He had hugged his brother for several minutes before falling asleep against his side.

"Thank-you Harry" Tomu said softly so as not to wake his brother. "You took a huge risk saving me and my brother. I just want you to know how grateful I am." He held out a hand to Harry.

Harry grasped it tightly and smiled softly at him before letting go and making his way towards Kakashi, who was sitting some distance away from them.

"You should get some sleep" Kakashi said as soon as he approached.

Harry would have done normally, but there was something that had been weighing on him since they had left the mine.

"Sensei, about what happened back there…" Harry said.

Kakashi turned to look at him seriously.

"I know you must be disappointed that I disobeyed your orders. You told me not to fight anybody, but I did, and because of it I almost got us all killed. If I hadn't of rescued Tomu, we would never have been discovered. I nearly got us all killed" Harry said, ashamed.

"Do you regret saving him?" Kakashi asked.

"No, of course not. But-"

"Harry, if you had saved him just because he was a captive, then yes, I would be disappointed that you disobeyed my orders" Kakashi said. "But Tomu and his brother are the only evidence we have that the Village Hidden in the Valleys is enslaving it's citizens and forcing them to work in the Gold Mines."

"I guess that's true, but still" Harry argued.

"You're far too logical for that not to have entered your thoughts, even if you did partly save him for the sake of saving him" Kakashi continued. "No matter how much we plan, and how much intelligence we have, there is no guarantee that a mission will go exactly how we expect it to. A good shinobi must adapt to new information on a mission, and consider how it might affect his standing orders. That's what you did today Harry. You did _well._ " Kakashi said firmly. "Now go and get some sleep" he smiled at him.

"Yes, sir" Harry said.

 **Notes**

Well this took months to get around to. I started a new Uni course, so that's taken a lot of time, as well as being put on full time at work, so I haven't had a lot of time. Still, I'll strive to be better and get the next chapter out faster.

Thanks for the support guys. As always, feel free to ask me any questions or tell me if I've made a really dumb mistake.

Cheers!


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